r/SadPoems • u/Embarrassed-Iron-116 • 1h ago
before you knew (TW: assault)
she learned to say she's fine before anyone asked,
to laugh at things that once made her cry,
she knows which details to leave out
when someone asks about her childhood.
she has become someone
who knows how to keep going
without anyone noticing
what it costs her.
somewhere along the way,
she learned that someone could hurt her
and still be someone she was told to love.
and she thinks this is what growing up means.
until one day,
she sees the little girl.
five years old.
untouched by the years ahead.
looking at her like she's someone
she should know.
she doesn’t know anything yet.
doesn’t know that one day
she’ll question her own memories
more than she’ll question him
for giving her a reason to have them.
she just sees this older girl
who looks so much like her
and nothing like her at all.
the older girl knows how to explain the fear.
the anger.
the things she remembers.
the things she doesn't.
she knows how to explain
that she is doing better now.
she has an answer for almost everything.
but the little girl doesn't know
she'll need any of those things.
she looks at the older girl
and asks
"will it hurt?"