You Left Me

You left that morning,
your soft steps
echoing through the house.

As you pulled your jacket on,
you tried to stop
the rough fabric from waking us.

Behind the wall
I was there.
But you didn't see me
like I saw you.

You didn't know I was there,
watching you as you
slept,
stepped,
ran
away from us.

I knew it would happen,
I could have stopped you.
But you were happy,
for once, you were happy
I could tell.

Halfway up the hill,
you smiled
as you looked back at our house.
I couldn't stop you
if you needed to go.