I Didn't Know

You had to constantly endure.

About the hurt and pain you suffered

From a heart you thought was pure.

I didn't know about the love

You so seldom received.

And if I had not seen it,

I myself, would not have believed.

I didn't know about the bruises

That you often tried to hide.

About the broken arm and stab wound,

Of the causes you had lied.

I didn't know about the hardships

You went through with your mother.

And even just as bad,

From those you called "brother."

I didn't know about the hunger

From the times you weren't fed.

About the way you had to sleep

On a cot for a bed.

I didn't know about the prayers

You prayed down on your knees

And cried out so earnestly

"God, HELP ME, PLEASE!!"

I didn't know about your father,

Who rarely tried to help you

In your struggle to overcome

What your mother put you through.

I didn't know there existed,

Anywhere, in any state

A mother who harbored so much anger,

So much dislike and so much hate.

I didn't know about the people

Who never came to your defense.

And this I don't understand,

It just doesn't make any sense.

I didn't know that a mother

Could treat a child so bad.

And to know that it's common,

Breaks my heart and makes me sad.

I didn't know you were deemed a school outcast,

The real you no one wanted to know.

So to yourself you stayed,

Never letting your feelings show.

I didn't know a heart so kind

Could be so broken and so torn

Just as the ragged clothes

So many times you had worn.

I didn't know that others like you

Felt your pain and with it shared

The feelings of loneliness and despair

And the thoughts that no one cared.

But I'm hoping to help you realize

That with strength to help you grow,

Someone will always be there,

But I swear I didn't know.