Privilege can sometimes be

A burden of its own

We were so lucky but in all the wrong ways

Maintaining a façade

Could break the bank for some

But we had money to throw at our problems

Someone to clean the house

Someone to mind the kids

Someone to deal with all that dirty laundry

Someone to organise

Someone to buy supplies

Someone to do it all so they don’t have to

 

We were always so well kept

When you outsource care it’s not called neglect

 

We had a lot of toys

To keep us company

Those endless nights when mom was working upstairs

We had a lot of books

To keep our minds off why

Dad never seemed to spend his evenings at home

We got used growing up

To doing what we’d want

Raising ourselves and setting our own boundaries

We visited our friends

And made our mental notes

Of how a real family was meant to function

 

We were always so well kept

When you outsource care it’s not called neglect

 

How old are you supposed to be

The first time you need therapy?

 

We always just assumed

That it was natural

That everybody had insomnia

The same anxiety

The same panic attacks

The same depression, the same thoughts of suicide

We wanted for nothing

Except a mom and dad

Who actually felt like a mother and a father

They gave us everything

Except the things we need

Just like their own parents had done before them

 

We were always so well kept

When you outsource care it’s not called neglect

It’s just the price they paid to pay the prices

Of all their cowardice and vices