“I know you sent him to boarding school” by Emma Wood

He always puts the bins out

He always turns up on time

He never misses a deadline

He never lets me down

 

But he’s always slightly distant

Like closeness isn’t a thing

And he’s always looking outward

Like there’s no work to do within

 

I know you sent him to boarding school

I know you did this for him

But what about the rest of us

Who want the rest of him?

 

Because he always puts the bins out

And he always turns up on time

He never misses a deadline 

And he never lets me down

 

But there’s something he’s not telling me

There’s something he forgot

There’s something he’s not allowed to be

And that something’s quite a lot

 

Because he’s allowed to put the bins out

And he can always turn up on time

He knows he can aim for a deadline

And he’ll never let me down

 

But he can’t cry with abandon

Nor steady his hand on mine

And he daren’t crack his heart open

Nor care to share its insides

 

Those things he left at boarding school

He hung them on his rack

They still dangle there abandoned

And we’ll never get them back.