This is for all the kids forced to grow up too soon
The ones who were learned too quickly that life is harsh
You didn't get the chance to lie in the sun, weaving flower crowns with dainty little fingers
Or bury your feet in the mud, feeling it squish through your toes
Instead you took care of the people that should have been taking care of you
Had stress and trauma put on your tiny shoulders
Shoulders that were so fragile they could have broken
Leaving you with splintered bones and the feeling of failure
A feeling that rang through your chest like hollow church bells
A feeling a body that small shouldn't have to experience
You don't even realize until you start to grow that it isn't normal
That teaching yourself how work a stove or a washer alone on a Saturday morning at 7 years old isn't what every kid does
You should be sitting in the living room, too close to the TV, eating sugary cereal that can't be good for you
While your mom is in the kitchen drinking coffee
But that never happens except on the good days
And you cross your fingers as tightly as you can for those good days to come
I'm sorry they didn't come as much as you wanted
I'm sorry you were forced to learn about things you shouldn't have known until years later
And I'm sorry that even now as an adult you still feel as if it all falls on your shoulders
Because even though they are bigger now, you still deserve help
People tell you there's a bright side
That you're more mature because of it
But that doesn't make it right
Nothing makes being robbed of a childhood "right"
You can never get it back
But now I want you to lie in the grass
Make as many flower crowns as you need
Jump in the mud
Be the child you never got to be
YOU ARE READING
consumed
Poetry|3rd place poetry in The Butterfly Awards 2019 🦋| There are times in life where you become consumed by thoughts of many things. Instead of letting them overtake you, express them.
