I Only Cried Once

We knew that our parents' divorce was coming

Before they had my sister and I sit at the table

I knew before they told us, heartbeats drumming

I knew to prepare myself for the 'divorced child' label

In hindsight, I never really prepared to grieve

I had no idea of how to ward off the coming frost

The possibility of forever, I just couldn't conceive

The prospect of a once-complete family forever lost

With that being said, I only cried once

When, for the first time in ten years of life

I realized, just as I set the lable for lunch

Tablesets, usually four, were only put out thrice

I realized that my time was now not my own

Thereafter, my life was to be split in twain

That was the one time I cried, unheard and alone

Because the spoons told me nothing was ever to be the same.