Your Words Just Hurt Him

There used to be this boy in school,
Who was bullied quite a lot,
The boys and girls all picked on him,
Since handsome he was not.
This boy, I didn’t mind him,
He was kind, a smart kid too,
And when he begged the guys to stop,
Their cruelty only grew.
I never interjected,
Because I was afraid,
Afraid of being pulled right in,
Into the bully’s game.
They took his money and beat him up,
When they left I’d treat his wounds,
And sit with him down on the ground,
And hoped it would end soon.
This boy, he had once told me,
His home was just like hell,
His dad would beat him senseless,
But he begged me not to tell.

So I didn’t.

And do you know what happened?

I watched him wither day by day,
As the torment continued on,
I saw him start to fade away,
Until one day he was gone.
One day there was no sign of him,
His desk was empty too,
There was only a note tucked in my book,
That simply said “thank you”.