things a hug won't fix

by: Turtledove


You don't whimper.
You would never falter, nor bend.
But I heard you
And looked over to find -
A deep, gouging splinter
Through your eyeball.
You didn't panic, didn't even want me to know.
That near-silent cry
A soft muffle
Had drawn me to tend to your retina.
You told me that you would no longer blink the same -
Never see the same.
Casually, you informed me that things would never be
The same.