Why did no one notice?
No one asked why.
No one asked why I didn’t eat.
Why I was so thin.
Why I was so average and tired at school.
Why I left school and home so young.
There were opportunities to ask, like the time I saw my doctor. But he didn’t ask.
I always kept my silence. Pretend.
But no one asked why.
No one saw my holed shoes.
My patched jeans.
My lack of supervision. My sadness.
I sat by the canal for hours, thinking.
Planning to leave as soon as I could, to survive.
I was a good girl.
Despite my lack of food and sleep.
I got away, a long way, a shy girl.
I am a girl who found her voice and a good life.
I have spent my life helping others.
It didn’t take long after I left for many tragedies, then death, at the home I left.
I had to cope with them and the memories.
It is and was so sad.
Now I am old, my childhood is hidden inside.
I am left thinking why.
Why did no one ask what was wrong?
Why did no one notice?
