You Never Knew

You had something to tell me
When you got back.
I didn’t understand
Why you should need to wait,
But you felt I would hate you.
It was something I needed to hear
Face-to-face, from you.

Your plans changed though
And you weren’t going to come back.
You still wouldn’t tell me, but
Somehow I had my suspicion
And it was correct.

I didn’t hear it from you.
She had to tell me instead.
From someone else I had to learn
Your secret. You were too scared.
Scared to admit it?
Scared of how I would react?
That I would no longer be your friend?
Scared of my hate?

That was years ago.
It still haunts me that it wasn’t
You that told me that day.
That I had to confront you
With my knowledge
Though you knew I had been told.

You couldn’t tell me
Over e-mail, and not
Face-to face. Not you.
You were afraid of my hate
If you were here, I would tell you.
You can’t hate someone
You never knew.