Hiding Hurt

He was always like that -
even when he was little.
He never let us see his hurts.
If he fell and skinned his knee,
he would scream in pain, but shield
the wound from our inspection.
His pain was beyond our jurisdiction.

We forced our attention then,
though he cried the louder for it.
He grew older and better
at hiding his hurts,
to keep us from intruding.
 
He learned too well.
When he became a young man
and in such awful pain
he couldn't bear to go on living,
he didn't know how to tell us
so we could help.
 
No one looked at his hurt,
and he died of it.