A belt should only have one purpose.
To hold up one's baggy jeans.
A 9 year old should only want to fasten a belt around their waist.
Not their necks.
We laugh at temptations,
While our best friends could be holding the noose.
Making fun of the deep scratches, while holding the knife.
We only false shock after we hear the trigger.
But only seconds go by, as murmured laughter overcomes the surface of the dead.
My little cousin lived 9 years into neglect.
Force fed agony and now grief.
Now as neglect held his hand over the belt,
He stood atop the chair
And jumped.