Pretend You Don�t Know

While looking in the pockets

Of my sister’s coat,

Instead of what I was looking for,

I found a little note.

 

The note read:

“Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m sorry for all

Those times I was bad.”

 

“I never meant to make you angry,

But I guess that’s just what I do.

Please remember, even though you don’t feel the same,

I will always love you.”

 

Reading the last line –

The one saying ‘goodbye’,

I realised I had tears

Falling from my eyes.

 

While I folded up her suicide note,

She spoke behind me, low:

“Act as if you never saw it –

Pretend you don’t know.”

 

I told her she needed help

But she wouldn’t hear it.

She reached out for my hand

Exposing her wrists, already slit.

 

She begged for me

To ‘get up and go’

“Please,” she begged,

“Pretend you don’t know.”

 

I ran for help

But there was no one near.

What was I to do?

I had to kick into gear.

 

But I was too late –

She lay bleeding on the floor

And on her suicide note,

She had written more:

 

“Dearest sister,

I love you so,

“But in order to forget,

You have to pretend you didn’t know.”

 

I still can’t believe

I practically saw her die,

And that I never got

To kiss my sister ‘goodbye’.

 

Copyright©JosieWentzel2007