A Letter

Greetings. Though you don't realize it,
the future holds more promise than you could ever hope.
These days will pass. The time spent repenting sins no more yours
than the sunrise will fade. Every morning is a chance at a new perspective, and
every morning you wake up, it's a chance for a new tomorrow.
Don't be afraid to change your lot in life. You owe no one the price of your joy.
Depression is temporary, suicide is not. I'm sorry
some days are hard and some seem to come out of nowhere,
steal your purse, knock you down, call you names and run.
I'm sorry I haven't been there with big, open arms, cookies and kisses.
You deserve better. This letter doesn't come close to changing that, I know,
and there's no way now for you to read it anyway.
I guess it's just a product of circumstance –
time flows lateral, my mind flows backward
into a time that takes me to you. Do you write to? Letters in the night when
tears run dry in your eyes and anger makes you lash out in places no one can see?
I remember, and I know you do no such thing.
I still think about that three-room shack
where dreams turn dusty and love becomes cold lumps of resentment.
I remember the half-real smile you gave to concerned do-gooders,
how your face went blank when you thought no one was looking. I saw it all.
I remember and I regret.