When We Were Lifeboats
You are sixteen and need your best friend
like the Titanic needed lifeboats
That is:
desperately, to save your life
everything hurts less at her house —
No parents about to lose everything,
No neighbors bringing food
your family can’t afford
No sick father spending long months at home
Her father just goes to work
and comes home for dinner
and if her parents fight
it’s not in front of you
There are no little brothers
who always need looking after
no one’s life is slowly coming unraveled
and the dark place you are pulled to
when you are at home alone in your room,
the one you can’t name yet
the one that makes you feel like you
must be going crazy
it doesn’t show up here
because this is your best friend’s house
this is a safe place
And you never have a best friend like the
best friend you have at 16
Now it’s text every three months,
Now it’s a Facebook post she likes.
But you don’t need saving anymore
not like you did then
So you tuck her away in the box
with all the other holy things from your past
and you will never tell her any of this
probably
you’ll just write it in a poem
tuck it away somewhere
think about taking it out again
eventually.
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Grace Moore is a writer from Washington. She writes fiction, creative nonfiction, and the occasional poem. She also writes articles on travel, mental health, writing, and books. Sometimes she’s funny, or at least that’s what her mom says. Follow her on Instagram @gracieawriter.
