nobody

Nobody knows how bad it hurt

Nobody knows the guttural cries that tore from my throat in the woods with the stars as my witness

Nobody knows how good that sting felt against my thigh

Nobody knows I was almost gone

Nobody knows the way my skin burned with betrayal of my own mind

Nobody knows because nobody ever cared enough to ask why my eyes were always bloodshot, my hands were shaking, and the way I guarded that little box under my bed like a lifeline

I think that hurt the worst of all

wanting somebody to know

Anybody, I just wanted to be seen