Shelf Life

by Christine Sears
(Olympia, WA, US)

People feel the need to care
But I shrink from condescending eyes.
They just don't quite get it,
Don't see the hurt, the pain, the lies.

People try to comfort me.
It doesn't work because I shut my ears
So I don't have to revisit the past.
It's become so easy over the years.

"I know they mean well,"
I try to convince myself,
But I wish they would just let me be,
Put me back on the top shelf.

The shelf life of an object
Often seems completely aimless,
And yes, it's usually uneventful,
But that's what makes it painless.

So if I can live without really living
Then just maybe I can cope.
Because, you see, the possibility of numbness
Is all that gives me hope.