i try to treat you as kindly as i can. try to fill up the spots inside you where others should have left their love but forgot that they had any, and who they could've given it to. i try to treat you as wisely as i can, so you won't grow up wondering what love is, and if it's real or not. so that you aren't sitting alone at a bus stop at 2am trying to come home from work to an empty apartment. i try to treat you as gently as i can, so that when you feel my fingertips against your skin, you can forget his. i try to erase the bad and fill you up with so much love and care that the past won't matter anymore. i try, but it's not good enough. i'm sorry. i'll try harder.