Member Poem

I heard you scream.
My ears rang from your cry
and the breaking of your voice
sent shivers dancing across my body.

I heard it
again and again,
an endless echo
desperately repeated,
hoping to one day reach the light
at the end of that dark cavern.

I saw the tears
stream down your cheeks—rivers!
They kept flowing - unceasing, unstoppable-
until the passage of time
forced them to silence.

Please, believe me now.
I heard your outcry
and yet I buried it away,
ignored it,
lied to myself, claimed I had neither
heard nor seen anything,
that it was all just a part
of one hateful nightmare.

I’m sorry,

so deeply, endlessly sorry

But those words
can no longer be said.