Suspended Poem by Anne Havell

I wonder why he is so very quiet
He hardly speaks at all. He sits and stares
And looks as if he isn’t there at all.
How do you reach a boy like that
So silent and so sad?
He doesn’t eat, that I know
His BMI and age is just thirteen.
Though I guess he stays at ten.
Health workers and psychiatrists: teachers and clinicians
Gather, talk, share their expertise.
They prod, they measure, they test.
A waste of time! For they don’t, they won’t, they can’t
Understand: she is well, safe within
Still living and so alive. He’ll not let go.
Not let her die again. He won’t! He can’t.