Category: Journey

From my first breath
I knew

It was my job
to take care
of you

Hearing you cry
wiping your tears

With every meltdown
every crisis
every emergency

I was there
to take care
of you

The guilt I felt
for your loss
and your pain

It wasn’t my fault
I wasn’t to blame

But every moment
every fear

I was there
to take care
of you

Soon I accepted
my place in this world
my value
my reality
my worth

And in my life
with every meltdown
every crisis
every emergency

I’ve been there
to take care
of everyone else

Because no one
should cry alone

Soon I had my own kids
my own family
my own life

And it became
an honor
a blessing
my job

To wipe their tears
comfort their fears
and take care
of them

Why am I still feeling guilty?

It wasn’t my fault
I wasn’t to blame

And yet my life
is the same

Without a crisis
a moment
a fear
an emergency
a meltdown
a tear

I ask
Who am I?

I was a child
you were
my parents

I was a child
I was your therapist
You were my clients

I was a teenager
You were my children

I was a child
with no time
to be a child

With no one to
show me the way
to guide me
to teach me
to hold me

And now
with every crisis
every fear
every emergency
every tear

I am there
to take care
of everyone

Because no one
should cry alone

As I sit here
crying alone


Amberley Charlotte ©4.26.23
Photo Cred: https://unsplash.com/@spce