It Hurts Me Too

She called me last night and asked
what is breathing
but I had no answer because I ask
the same question everyday
what is breathing
and I have no answers even for myself
so I told her to just hang in there
but she sounded real shaky
like she wanted to cry but
she’s been crying for days and
she doesn’t feel any better
then she asked
what is faith
but I had no answer because
I don’t have any so
I just kept quiet
and then she asked is it
a foundation for something
or merely a stage for
broken actors so I told her
just hang in there
but even I sounded a bit shaky
and she said she wasn’t sure
how much longer she can hang in there
so I said I know
because I don’t know how much more
I can take either
and she knew this but it’s ok
because no matter what we’re there
for each other and I said this
and she started to cry and I
don’t like to hear women cry
because it’s so soft yet
the pain is so hard and it hurts
me too so I did my best to hold her through the phone
and she knew this too
so she eventually stopped crying and said
thank you and out of habit I said
you’re welcome but inside
I felt guilty because I didn’t feel helpful to her
and because I wanted to ask her
the same questions she asked me
but I didn’t call her,
she called me.