by Nick Gisburne
It didn’t happen when I felt my chest
Become a little tighter than before.
It didn’t happen when I took the test,
Or when I found the letter on the floor.
It didn’t happen reading it aloud,
Because it couldn’t possibly be true.
It didn’t happen even when I vowed
I’d never be a burden, not to you.
It happened when they pumped me full of drugs,
And told me I was ready for the fight.
It happened when I saw their troubled shrugs,
And when I heard you crying in the night.
It happened. I decided I would try
To teach myself to live before I die.
