Tattoos and Posters

“Semicolons are used when a sentence could have ended,
But it chose not to.”

I pass these posters in the hall ends,
I turn my head because they’re nothing new.
I see the tattoos – the semi colons –
They sink into the wrists of those you least expect.
That ink is an indicator of strength no one can imagine.

Some scars aren’t as easy to detect,
But that’s not a win.
No one should have to hide away,
No one should have to pretend to be okay.

Somehow, those with the tattoos,
Those who made those posters?
They are always the ones who never sing the blues,
Who never need someone who can bolster.

If anything, they support everyone else.
Those people seem to be the ones most in need of love,
Are the ones that hide the most welts.
The welts from holding on too tight to things that hurt.

You read about the dove of hope,
You see the people all around the halls,
Who have all missed the writing on the walls.
Those with the tattoos,
And the posters they made trying to belong,
They are the love they’ve been looking for all along.