Love Letters Elsewhere

A Very Beautiful Sonata

i am not the strong one.

i barely know my own name.

every day,
i feel so intensely.
i think all these words,
yet i still go unseen.

i am definitely not the strong one.

i tell you every day,
yet you never pay attention.
i try my hardest to seem okay,
but you always want your hits in.

i guess i'm supposed to be the strong one.

i try to be things i have never been.
i reconstruct my thoughts,
and i try to feel less thin.
but every thought that comes about
just feels a little more like isolation.

i suppose i can be the strong one.

it's what i'm used to-
it's all i know.
i'm the one between us all
that's to take every blow.

but to be in this skin
is to be set astray.
but what more can i do
when i have no choice but to stay?

i'll just have to be the strong one.

"too bad,
too bad.
he was really a good kid.

"too bad,
too bad.
he was really a strong boy.

"too bad,
too bad.
i thought we'd get to see him more.

"too bad,
so sad.
i thought he would be the strong one."

what more can you do
when this is all that's heard of you?

you just have to be the strong one.