Lean on Me, Mary

Mary keeps her shoes by the door like she's always half-gone somewhere.

Paint peeled prayer on the kitchen wall says, "Hope lives here"

in the tired air. She laughs like she don't know the world,

but I see the weight in her eyes. Every dream that she ever had

still folded on the inside. She says, "I'm fine" like a practiced line,

but her hands still shake sometimes. Oh, Mary, you don't have

to be strong tonight. You don't have to carry the whole damn weight.

You don't have to top every loose goodbye. You don't have to smile just