The Sky Stands Blue

Too absorbed to see your tears
Too busy to sense your fears

Too stuck to that “great older way”
Too proud to let you have your say

We looked at our script for you
And expected you to act on cue

We couldn’t hear your heart cry
We wouldn’t brook a single sigh

This is for your good only, we said
made you go on even if you bled

What, dear child, went through your mind?
What, dear life, would it have cost to be kind?

It will be our cross to bear for life
wish we had tuned into your strife.

Yes, it’s true, young person – we have failed you
And though you fell through it, the sky stands blue.

Note:
This poem is a response to a report I read this evening. India's rates of youth suicide are some of the highest in the world.