Poem by Lauren Castaldi

We try too hard for that low class teenage angst

Cry about every secret leak
Any trust circle breach
But I know you love to watch
Your mistakes be talked about
The center of It all
Walk into room and hear the silence start to fall
Because we love each other’s problems
So much more entertaining than our own.

And we find any reason for a disrupted mood
Or self-inflicted wound
We try too hard to brood
Over some pathetic dude.
We get attention because we whine.
Over every single time
I’m told I fall short of a dime
Not a ten but just a nine
And scrutinize over what the hell could I do to shed that image of a nine??
Surely nothing natural.

I fill my empty heart with inadequate distractions
Layered with false hope, knowing what I’m lacking
I stare at fictional characters through disconnected screens
Numbing my brain until real thoughts can leak through by any possible means

And maybe I’ll imply
That the real reason why
We feed off others' weakness
Like some great huge swarm of leeches
Is to safely hide our own
So our secrets are never known
But I’ll admit I laugh at others
Who face the same regrets I have known
I’m just a better secret keeper as I have clearly shown.