As a survivor of violence,
I look at the world
​in a much different way.
Murder got my sister, not me…
They never found her, you see.

The killer sits in the pen with life for
crimes he first committed in his mind.
It was not a gun.
It was a hand saw that did it this time.

Wait, it wasn’t the saw,
it was the man behind the saw
that cut her up, and made her fall.

He knew it wasn’t right…
said he wanted it to be an
“open festering wound” in my family's sight.

Forgiveness doesn’t change
what he did to me,
but it sets me free
from the pain that used to be.

My apologies to his mother
at the trial that day,
how I wish I could take her pain away.
Her eyes met mine with an empty stare,
yet compassion
is all I could share.

The jurors...
who thinks of their pain?
Having to see and hear things that
after counseling remain.

The confession more gruesome
than you want to hear…

Yet violence still splatters our screens as
​entertainment
beating in heads it’s normal to kill.

What would we do
without the devil to thrill?

If it’s not you today,
it could be you tomorrow.

Consider yourself challenged
where you feel this way, too.
Don’t wait 'til it happens to you.
Don’t get it mixed up,
we’re not born this way.

Stop believing the glorified lies of
yesterday.
We are not meant to kill people,
watching on display.

Why bad things happen is beyond our reach.
We dream of a time
where less violence litters the streets.

From news, shows, movies,
music, and games,
​they’re packed with violence
filling our brains.

Often G rated shows
have bullies and weapons…
what’s to gain?
Are we sacrificing humanity
for money in vain?

"It’s just a game" they say…
oh is it, because life really isn’t that way!
People don’t get multiple lives,
and they don’t just bounce back.

There are real folks behind these stories
that must keep it on track.
Piecing together fragments
of what we used be...

Do you care that it’s not fair
to you or me?

Can we change the hands of time,
or do we start a new beginning?

A new time
where violence is not promoted,
and authorities make changes that save.
A new day where parents focus
on the needs of their kids
rather than chasing futures away.

When daddies are there,
no matter the form.

It’s only when our love is stronger
than the shackles of past that
we can truly be reborn.

Those thoughts of suicide...

​Let it be clear,
the world is better with you here.
That situation
was not meant to tear you down,
​you have to pick yourself up, and
adjust your crown.
While the world can be a scary place,
it can also help heal us, too.
I've been there...
Like you.
​
Think about your loved ones...
their tears falling like rain.
Is that really what you want -
their pain?

Reach out to someone.
tomorrow is a new day.
Follow your passions,
and pray, pray, pray...
'cause the peace you seek
is not that far away.

​There is hope.

Let's put something positive out there.
Make families want to stay.
Be the change, and don’t fray.
People say freedom of speech
leads the way,
but where has it gotten us today?

If it’s your child that’s needy,
take care of your own…
we’re raising society, you know.

If you see something, tell.
If you get a tip, follow it,
because someone’s life may depend on it.

- ​Amy O'Pry Massey