Alone Doesn't Hurt Like This

You care for their broken pieces
tend the body and hope to soothe the soul
put their happiness in front of you
and caretake them into oblivion
until they don't see you anymore
and your every concern is just a trivial annoyance
passing beneath their notice
and hysterics are all that catch their attention anymore
but that's just because you've gone crazy
with all the hoping and the waiting
and the running from the past
that creeps up on you when you close your eyes
and they always seem better than the one that came before
each one more attentive
and gentler
and kinder
and that much less miserable
until the clock moves ahead and time passes by
leaving all the internals out for viewing
and they don't quite come across the same way anymore
and the truth is that they are more broken than you
they just never noticed before
and somehow you take the blame as they spiral
moving down into the pit where you'd been living all along
and it might as well be your fault because someone has to be responsible
and hasn't that always been your role from the start?