Blue on Blue

Chapter Four

The Takers

by Rocky Reeves

Two pounds, two ounces

Premature and near death's door

When I was born

I fought through

Incubators and ventilators

To survive, to thrive

To stay alive

I was a fighter

They called me Rocky

I grew tall

Against it all

Broke down walls

And had a ball!

I was a lover

They couldn't stop me

Haters came 'round

Looked down

Called me clown

I wouldn't bow down

I was a target

And they mocked me

Lousy crooks

They took

I shook

Was overlooked

I was prey

And they stalked me

I was beaten

Weakened

Wounds were deepened

I stopped speakin'

I was a hostage

They had got me

Let loose

All the abuse

Loop the noose

To the spruce

I am NOTHIN'

That's what they taught me.

Rocky's rhyme flows through him, as clear and powerful as a waterfall. It fills Maggie with the words she'd been too afraid to admit. Dr. Russell asked if she knew she could die from taking all those pills. Maggie told her she didn't know, but truth is, she did know. She's an S.A. She's a Suicide Attempt.

"Any thoughts or comments about Rocky's poem?" Dr. Russell asks the group. 

Everyone's eyes dart everywhere else, from Rocky, to the floor, to the ceiling, to the words splattered all over the sage green walls. Maggie's gaze drops to her fingers. Bria McFarland.