I wrote this when I was fourteen, I wasn't writing happy stuff back then.
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"Desperado Danny In Despair" (original title)
[ Published under the title, "Death" ]
They came to my cell and told me, "it's time."
I was born a mute, so I had to mime.
They walked me down to the dreaded room,
I sat down upon the chair of doom.
They placed the black material over my skull,
I began to shake like a frightened bull.
They pulled the switch, I began to see red.
I sucked in my last breath, then I was dead.
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by Fabien Belcourt
October 2002
Don't believe this poem was published? Yeah, I couldn't believe it either at the time. A bit of a shock for a fourteen year old a few months shy from his fifteenth birthday. Published in 'Sailing Away' by The Poetry Institute of Canada. The age range is thirteen to eighteen and there's a new contest every year.
YOUNG CANADIAN WRITERS! - Email poetryinstitute@shaw.ca for details pertaining to contest rules, dates and such. Good luck!
