To Each Stranger

I can’t carry it in a sling,

Walk limping with a stick

Howl like a wild thing caught

And run and be understood

I can’t shut the door

To people who want answers

Paint a sign on my forehead:

I’m not ready for the real world,

Least of all, human contact

I can’t tell them they would treat me better

Had they seen what I had

And knew what I had been through

I am broken without a cut

I am falling without being pushed

Into this pain I cannot touch

It cannot be seen, so they ask:

Why does she seem so sad?

Is the weather making her eyes rain?

Surely, it cannot be that bad?

To each stranger who cannot have a clue how I lost hope every day

You would not be so quick to cause me more if you knew my pain

And yet, I cannot carry it in a sling,

Walk limping with a stick

Howl like a wild thing caught

And run and be understood