07/23/2026
The Things We Never Buried
They say that time will make us whole,
That every wound will fade with grace.
Yet some are stitched beneath the skin,
Where years cannot erase.
I do not mourn the life I lived,
Nor curse the road I’ve known.
I mourn the child who learned too young
That pain is best alone.
She learned to hide her shaking hands,
To smile through every ache.
To carry storms behind her eyes
And never let them break.
She spoke in whispers, soft with hope,
Afraid she’d ask too much.
For every soul can starve to death
Without a loving touch.
You taught me how to swallow tears,
To bury every plea.
Yet never saw the grave you’d dug
Was slowly swallowing me.
I begged for hands that reached with warmth,
Not reasons, rules, or blame.
A frightened child still knows the truth,
Though she can’t speak its name.
Now every kindness that I give
Is born from what I lacked.
I leave no heart to stand alone,
No soul to be attacked.
For love is not a lofty speech,
Nor wisdom wrapped in pride.
It’s sitting on the bathroom floor
When someone breaks inside.
It’s staying when the night is long.
It’s listening without fear.
It’s saying, “You don’t have to earn
The fact that I am here.”
So if these verses ever find
The lips that spoke my name,
Don’t ask me why I still recall
The echoes of that pain.
The years have taken much from me,
But one thing still survives:
The child who waited at the door…
Still hoping
Love
Arrives.
-CF