Twenty-One Wilted Roses

Walking.

Down a street.

That same sweet street I walk down everyday.

Same time,

I've done it for three years.

The walk back home from the high school wasn't too far.

It seemed to be shorter every day.

But not today,

No, today it was a long walk.

School was harsh for me.

Someone called me a fag.

I mean, people call me fags everyday.

But today it was different.

My boyfriend,

Well my ex boyfriend.

He called me a fag.

I guess he decided he was straight, not bi.

I mean, I didn't love him or anything.

I'm not going to bullshit my way into saying that.

I know many people my age says they are in love,

But I don't think i've ever truely been in love.

If I had been I'd still be dating them, right?

True love never dies, does it?

I don't think it does.

So i've never been truely in love.

I was wearing my "Fagger" Matthew Lush shirt.

And my rainbow bookbag key chain.

And as I walked the long way home,

I heard I car pull up next to me.

I could see two men in the car.

They looked angry.

So I walked faster.

I turned a corner and ran straight into a dead end.

The car turned.

It blocked my only way out.

I had nothing else left....

Nothing else left to do.

I knew they hated me.

I stood there, transfixed.

They came out of the car with rope and baseball bats.

"Hey ya little faggot."

"You okay there, you damn queer?"

The baseball bats came down on me,

Striking me down.

Leaving me for nothing but hurt.

They continued to whack and beat me.

"Filthy piece of shit."

"God damn pussy."

Their words hurt,

Blood was spilling from me.

I could do,

Nothing.

"Maybe this will teach you a fucking lesson."

"Yea, maybe this will teach you about fucking some guys."

They stopped.

They took the rope.

Rushed, they tied me to the fence that was blocking my way out.

Then they got back in their car and left.

I am the boy tied to a fence, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die because two straight men wanted to "teach me a lesson"