if no one asks you how you are you learn to say you’re fine

if no one asks you how you are
you learn to say you’re fine
you learn to hold yourself inside
and be “ok” by design

if no one takes the time to care
you learn to have no need
you learn to be the one who serves
or the one who must succeed

if no one lets you be a kid
you learn to mature fast
you learn to take good care of them
and put your feelings last

and so we learn and so we grow
like twisted unsure trees
until one day we realize
that this is a disease

and at this point we have a choice
to unravel this old crap
to do our work and heal ourselves
escaping from the trap

and so my dears I wish you strength
and freedom from the past
with open eyes and open heart
a new way that will last

~ Ann Betz, Santa Fe, 2022