How Could You?

How could you know?

We were only kids.

We were only best friends.

How could you know?

The signs of depression.

When we sat together in health class.

How could you know?

That I wasn’t myself.

Well, I suppose you knew that much.

But, how could you know?

That I was being hurt at home?

When I told you sobbing in the lunchroom bathroom.

How could you know?

That I dreamt of death.

That I didn’t care anymore about me.

When I was never hungry enough to finish a single bag of animal crackers.

How could you know?

When DCFS came to the school.

When I stopped talking altogether.

How could you know?

That years later, you’d post on Facebook about how you cried over your best friend’s article on mental health.

How could you know?

That I’d see your post and feel sick to my stomach.

How could you know?

That all I needed was you.

How could you know?

That you had a voice and I didn’t.

How could you know?

That I wasn’t just boring now.

How could you possibly know?

That I would live.

That I would still be here.

That I would still be fighting.