Nobody Told Me

When you are born
Nobody tells you about the tiny coffins
About losing hair and going slow
Nobody tells you about cars being crushed like a beer can
Because somebody else was nursing their tenth drink 
Nobody tells the girls about what happens when you walk alone
About being tasted and left like rotting meat tossed in the street
For when you are born they tell you to be careful of breaking your arm but not of breaking your heart 
They don't tell you about the rope necklaces people wear
About how razors are used for more than shaving dad's beard
Nobody tells you about the bathtubs full of floating infants
And the bloody streets of flattened children
Nobody told me, nobody told me
That the world was scary
But nobody told me about waking up early to watch the sunrise
And that people all over the world stare and are guided by the same light 
Nobody told me that these surgeons cut with razor blades to save 
That they can fix a broken heart while holding it in their hand 
Nobody told me that we can crack open the atmosphere 
And stroll across the dusty white moon 
That your heartbeat can beat so loud in your chest from all the love
That you have to howl over the edge of a cliff before it bursts 
Nobody told me about the passion in people
Like the ones who let their own skin burn just to pull someone out of a fire 
And that while someone can break your heart, you can piece it back together like it never was apart 
For when you are born 
Nobody tells you about all the life, all the song, all the joy 
Nobody told me, nobody told me 
That the world was this beautiful. 


-anna sluder

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