She Was Seven Years Old
Poetry Wednesday
*Trigger Warning: Please note this poem addresses the topic of suicide*
As September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness month, please remember that mental illness can affect people of all ages, even our little ones.
She was seven years old when I found it
She was seven years old when she felt that pain
I double-checked, triple-checked, the words astounding
then the tears came and I screamed her name
How could this be happening?
Is it that evil seeped in and took her over?
How could I just miss something
when that something was ruining her?
It was her suicide note I was reading
She was tired, she said, of being in this world
And her beautiful life? She was thinking of ending
it all instead of waiting for its beauty to unfurl
I grabbed her, hugged, her, kissed her, loved her
until she was ready to run away
But I had missed her, ignored her, forgotten her, blamed her
for emotions she knew not how to contain
Had I paid attention, even just once
perhaps she would not have felt estranged
like a baby bird who never becomes
what he could if…
