PAYTON SAUERBREI

I Know You Can’t Remember So I’ll Tell You

Payton Sauerbrei

you looked so peaceful. The rest of us were staring at a ghost. I wanted to pick the pieces of grass out of your long blonde hair that dad had begged you to cut for football season, but I couldn’t get to you. You looked like you were sleeping, deeply as usual, but your pale chest sat so still when it should have been heaving. The kindest heart I’ve ever known stopped out of nowhere. Dad was overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility. He always pushed you to work the hardest. I’m glad you’ve never had to see them like that. Maybe the shock I felt in my heart matched the shock they put into yours.