I read this poem recently and realized it is a good message to bullied kids.
I was bullied as a kid myself. That school is now far away and long ago. I made a happy life for myself. To all of you out there, think on this famous quote:: “Happiness is the best revenge.” Make it so. It is possible even if it doesn’t seem like it when you’re stuck in school.
From the third poetry collection, titled My Voice My Pain My Love, by Masayuki Tanabe of Ontario, Canada (posted here with permission).
TO THE BULLIED
If you are a kid in high school
Who is being stomped on
And kicked with steel toed boots
I want to tell you
I know how terribly bleak it is
If you think about mowing down
Your fellow students
With an assault rifle
Like the Columbine shooters
I understand
Because I was in that dark Hades
Caused by the utter inhumanity
Of bullying
However it is our actions
That truly define us not our thoughts
We all have a choice
To live a life worth remembering
Or to have a legacy
That is a monstrosity
I chose to be a human being
Despite not being treated like one
I urge you to do the same
Masayuki Tanabe at a poetry reading event