I don't know the date
The time, the year
Still the memory is clear

Wooden steps creak underfoot
Sunlight slants through the sides
The big blue slide
Can't see where it goes
Just sit at the top
Birds chirp nearby
Grass freshly cut

A good place for a revelation
Nothing to do but ponder
Lost in my mind
Can't see anything else

Suddenly shot in the heart
Questions pour out first
Where is my mommy?
Wasn't she here?
Why can't I remember?
Everyone else has one
Where did mine go?

Why don't I know
What she looks like?
Sounds like?
I can't hear her

Starting to panic
Where did she go?
Will she be back?
NO

Next the emotions
Floodgates open
Can't hold it back
Don't even try

Sobs control my body
Running and running
But I can't escape
This terrible realization

I can't even speak
Explain why
The tears are erupting
When I finally do
Reveal I just found out
That my world was broken

"You already knew"
"Don't be so dramatic"
"That's old news"
You complain that my tears
Are getting you wet
Soiling your clothes
My grief is uncomfortable
An inconvenience
You just want to move past this

All of eight years old
Already being told
I can't grieve
Shouldn't feel a 3 year old wound
Should have healed by now

I didn't know it was there!
You didn't care
Now that I do
can't show how I feel
That's why
I still don't cry
In front of you