dearly beloved: i hope when your daughter says i don't want

dearly beloved:  i hope when your daughter
says  i don't want to go to school today, 
you hear  her.  i hope you notice the way 
the words seem to  sink  in the  air  like
she is pronouncing  them with such a  heft
that they cannot be supposed by her breath.
i hope you do not  tell her  you stayed up
 late  and  that's  why  you're   so  tired.
dearly beloved,  i hope you push her  hair
back from her face and look into  her eyes
and ask her to tel l you what  is keeping
her  from   seeing  her   friends.  dearly
beloved, do not rush  to work  throwing a 
feel better   over your shoulder.  instead 
take   her into  your  arms and  hold her.

dearly beloved: when your son stops eating,
you   notice  it.  i hope  that  when  his
shoulders cave towards each other and his
skin grows pale that you  remember what it
was  like to be a  teenager and instead of
telling yourself he will grow out of it, i
hope  you ask him  why you can see  all of
his ribs. dearly  beloved, i hope you find
his razorblades before he becomes addicted,
i hope you roll back your sleeves and sit 
down, scars showing, and kiss his forehead
and tell him the  stories he has  been to
young to know beforehand. dearly beloved,
don't you  dare tell that  young man that
depression only happens to teenage girls. 
dearly beloved, tell him you stood where you stand.