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To The Fallen Student I Never Met
11 July, 2009
Author: Meridian Zuriel

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What to say, what to say
Xin Yang, I’m sad you went down that way
You came from China to
Pursue a degree at Virginia Tech
Befriended a Chinese student,
Someone you just met
Someone you thought was a friend indeed
But actually turned out to be a bad seed
He was listed as your emergency contacts
And I’m mad
Because he was supposed to be nice
Supposed to be a good person
Now not only your family’s hurtin’
But I’m hurtin’, and I never even knew you
How could Haiyang Zhu turn out to be
The person who would kill you?

I mean, no one saw it coming
And I’m not even a student there
But I care, and I know that you hear our prayers
It’s a shame, cause you came to the U.S. in January
As a graduate student to study accounting
But never got to fulfill your dream
And it seems that this world is colder than ice
Chillier than the chilliest winds
How do I begin?

Zhu didn’t even stop at the stabbing
You were decapitated
And I hate it
Can’t hate him, although my blood boils
How can this man, a doctorate student no less
Watch you drink coffee, then attack you
Ya’ll weren’t even arguing, according to Fox
It was sudden, out of the blue,
Lady, I weep for you, think of you
The suspect was worse than Judas Iscariot
He not only befriended, but killed you
And I wonder if he forgot
You after you were dead, I wonder if he had any remorse
Or if he hadn’t – because Xin,
This is a sick, cruel and evil world we live in
We’ve got people whose hearts are made of tin
Like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz
Why? Why? Why?

What makes the psyche snap?
What makes a person do the irrational without reason?
Not to justify any sin or crime, but this was far more than displeasing
You just flew in from China, and a couple days later
After adjustin
It’s ashes to ashes and dust to dust and
I’m baffled. Not more than 20 days of being on campus.
Why Zhu Why? Do you ever cry?
Do you ever lie
Down in the penitentiary and think
Man, if I could turn back the hands
Then I wouldn’t be sitting in the can
I wish I didn’t kill Xin,
How deep is your love? How deep does it run?
How can humans unlawfully end lives with knives and guns?

No justification. None whatsoever.
But if there was ever a conscience in your head
You probably would’ve contemplated instead
Of carrying your sinister deed through
Although thinking violence is just as bad
But this woman was under 25, and it’s sad
She’s only just begun to live, when she lived
And what I wouldn't give, to continue see her live
Like an electric cord removed,
Xin, your life was cut short. Too short.
It would’ve been nice to see your
Apparition beat his backside in court
During the hearing, as he stood trial
Because agony reaches the core and travels for miles
Kilometers. Sometimes it’s never ending.
But in the end, you’ve got true friends defending
Although you’re not alive to hear

Why Zhu Why man?
What provoked you to do what you did?
Tell me, cause I have yet to understand
All that education you underwent went wasted
I mean, you were pursuing your DOCTORATE
It don’t get no better than that
And now look where you’re at
Why Zhu Why?
The woman can’t be reattached
She’s dead and these holes can’t be patched
Of hearts you’ve torn through to never beat as steady
Man, judgment has never been so close
I just hope you’ll be ready
I’ll be ready; I know what I’ve done and I repented
Repent Zhu and seek the most High

Karma has already reached ya, although it’s in its first stage
Cause you’re in jail, and I don’t wish anyone to H*ll
But the inner man talks louder than the outward
I’m not trying to compromise with you attacker
But this story reverberates,
As my anger explodes like a firecracker
I know you don’t care, I don’t expect you to
But what I expect from you
Is for you to think long, and think hard
Think about how many years you’ve got facing steel bars
While you could’ve graduated and became a doctor
Had a job, a wife, a family and a car

You could’ve made a difference,
And continued to treat Xin with respect
However, it’s too late, all because you let
Her down and an emergency contact at that
You were her emergency, and it’s so ironic
Seven witnesses were at the VT Café
Who were too shocked to move when
You went berserk that day
Hands down, it’s easier to say
What a person would’ve done when it comes to assistance
They probably wanted to help Xin, but were too afraid
As her life quickly began to fade
Like Sonic, like a lightning bolt
You pounced, you leaped on your prey
And what did you gain?
Zhu, what did you gain?

Nothing but years in prison
You should’ve thought about your decision
I mean, you should’ve at least thought
Then no blood would’ve spilled
You wouldn’t have gotten caught
Xin would still be sipping coffee
And you two would be carrying on with your conversation
If you two conversed
But all because of you
Events unfortunately took a turn for the worse

------- Author's Notes -------

R.I.P. Xin Yang. Sorry the poem is late.

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Comments on this poem/writing:

Jeremy Morzos (168.12.253.66) -- Friday, July 17 2009, 08:21 pm

1

deep and very much emotion thanks for sharing
Meridian (98.166.196.93) -- Sunday, July 19 2009, 09:20 pm

hey Jeremy, thank you

It is a shame about what happened to her.
Brett (64.210.45.150) -- Tuesday, August 25 2009, 05:55 am

Meri!

hey Meri, it's been too long. I see you still havn't lost your touch! Very touching poem and I'm so sorry to hear it happened to a friend.

Amazing poem, I hope someday I can regain my creative spark and in all honesty this poem has made me want to try again.

I hope all is well Meri. Take Care

Brett
anonymous (67.251.100.215) -- Thursday, August 27 2009, 03:07 am

the tin man from the wizard of oz...?

the tin man never hurt anyone... why put his name in there with this SOB - there is no comparison at all - bad choice of words, even if it was only to try to rhyme... the tin man was a good guy.
Meridian (64.12.117.71) -- Friday, September 4 2009, 01:38 am

Thanks so much Brett and anonymous,

Hey Brett! Thank you. I've been so bombarded with work nowadays, and have gotten a bit rusty. We should do a collaboration sometime, just for fun. Haha.

Anonymous, thank you. I can see how that line can be misleading. But, I did not mean that the Tin Man had a heart of tin. I was just talking about, his exterior and not his interior.
Taylor James (82.132.136.145) -- Tuesday, October 13 2009, 12:20 am

wow!

this poem is amazing!!
Meridian (64.12.117.71) -- Wednesday, October 14 2009, 12:42 am

Thanks Teej!

First,

Thanks Taylor. It's just a shame what happened to her.

Second,

Anonymous, I wanted to further clarify the meaning behind the lines: "We've got people whose hearts are made of tin, like the Wizard of Oz." In my first response, it's ironic that I used these lines in my poem and forgot the entire explanation that they serve.
Meridian (64.12.117.71) -- Wednesday, October 14 2009, 12:43 am

Continued....

I'm with you. Not only was the Tin man a good guy, but the other main characters as well. So, here's a better explanation. The Tin man is made of tin and his chest is hollow. Thus, he thinks he has no heart. I'm using the character of the Tin man, given what he's made of, excluding his charming personality, to emphasize a point. In terms of generalization, my aim was to use the "Tin man" analogy to discuss the inhuman actions of real people. Hopefully, this time it makes better sense.
 
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