"it hurts"
she cries
tears streaming down her face
she holds out a little finger
and I see it
a nasty little sliver of glass
embedded
a trickle of blood
like a red ribbon
lazily
working it's way down
drip drop
to the floor
"it hurts it hurts"
she screams
I say, shh it won't hurt so much
when I pull it out shh don't cry
just a single tug
and it's out
deposited into the nearest trash can
buried under the toxic garbage
of the week
(we both hope it stays buried
so we don't have to see it again
so I don't have to see her cry)
better? good. now, let me pour
some stuff on it
it'll burn
but only for a moment
twist the cap off slowly
eyeing her little face in the corner
of your eye
she'll cry and scream again
because it'll hurt again
but then it won't hurt anymore
and it's for the best
"ouch!"
she cries
as the foaming liquid splashes
on her tiny finger
"it huuuuuuurts"
(don't worry, dear
I understand
things hurt sometime
be glad you can scream)
"it hurts"
she screams
(I wish I could scream too
because I hurt, too)
but she quiets as you finish
wrapping a tiny bandage
around her tiny finger
and you pick her up
and rock her
and she doesn't cry or scream
because it doesn't hurt anymore
(I wish I didn't hurt anymore)
and maybe there's a lesson to be learned
because sometimes
things hurt
and the only way to fix them
hurts even worse
hurts so much
but it's for the best
and you have to realize that
it's for the best
and then it won't hurt anymore
(I promise that it'll hurt
it'll burn
when I'm gone
but it's for the best
and then neither of us
will hurt
anymore)
YOU ARE READING
BURN (Wattys2015?)
Poetry"Poetry...is thoughts that breathe and words that burn."--Thomas Gray "Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash." --Leonard Cohen Poems on the tough stuff in life. Poems on the crazy good stuff in li...
