Remember that walls are thin, then remember
that when you open your lips
and let the guilt pour out,
not everyone will sympathize.
Hunger for them is a noise coming from their own bellies.
Not yours on a mall escalator when you
were eight.
When she says she has a splitting
headache try
to feel the nerves aching in the back of your own cold neck.
It isn't easy, I know.
And she'll never know the difference
Between “i'm so sorry” and “i'm so sorry”
when people like eyelash blinks float
in black.
Remember that your brother will ask you
to race
and your bike will fall on sand.
He knows best.
The scrapes will heal over with shiny
new skin
faster than you thought they would.
that when you open your lips
and let the guilt pour out,
not everyone will sympathize.
Hunger for them is a noise coming from their own bellies.
Not yours on a mall escalator when you
were eight.
When she says she has a splitting
headache try
to feel the nerves aching in the back of your own cold neck.
It isn't easy, I know.
And she'll never know the difference
Between “i'm so sorry” and “i'm so sorry”
when people like eyelash blinks float
in black.
Remember that your brother will ask you
to race
and your bike will fall on sand.
He knows best.
The scrapes will heal over with shiny
new skin
faster than you thought they would.
This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.
This piece won the November 2010 Teen Ink Poetry Contest.



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