Help is (not)

Help is not one day each week
Help is not one hour each day
Help is not from eight to five
Help is not a hospital stay

Help is sitting face-to-face
Help is touching, holding hands
Help is someone who knows how it feels
Help is someone who understands

Help is not what you were taught
Help is not a book you study
Help is not lying on a couch
Help is not a psychologist's fee

Help is looking beyond my smile
Help is looking into my eyes
Help is knowing what lies beneath
Help is hearing my silent cries

Help is not matching tattoos
Help is not my name in ink
Help is not calling me "sweetheart"
Help is not asking me what I think

Help is knowing without questioning
Help is listening to what I might say
Help is hearing all that I do not
Help is keeping me out of the fray

Help is not delving into my mind
Help is not making me relive the past
Help is not writing your notes on that pad
Help is not watching the minutes go fast

Help is spending as much time as it takes
Help is getting to know me really well
Help is standing by my side when I need you
But mostly, help is saving me from myself