You are twelve years old
And you live in a big house
And it is cold and empty
And you get lost walking to the bathroom
And you breathe heavily when you reach the top of the staircase
And your parents are never home
So they buy you a computer and a basketball hoop
And at the time it’s enough

You are fourteen years old
And you go to parties at night
And you get high in your room
And you tell your nanny to go to hell
And your parents are never home
So they buy you a dirt bike and a flat screen TV
And they hire a new nanny
Because the old one just couldn’t handle you anymore
So you keep going to parties
And you keep getting drunk
Just so you can forget about how miserable you are
At that cold empty house

You are sixteen years old
And your parents finally come home
But they are always in their office
Or out working
And at night they watch TV in their room
And they don’t ask you how school went
And they don’t tell you that they love you
So you go to your friend’s house a lot
And you smoke cigarettes
Because it distracts you from feeling lonely
And your parents buy you a car and an iphone for your birthday
But they aren’t home for that birthday of yours
Because they are at a business meeting or something
So you keep going to parties
And you get wasted
Because it keeps you away from that cold house
And because this time,
The presents just aren’t enough
And you are tired of feeling lonely
And you are tired of not being loved
So you decide to write a poem
And you call it “ Being There”
Because that’s what you needed from your parents all along
So you leave it on their bed
And you hope that they have time to read it
And you hope that they have enough time to realize how you feel
But that is all that you can do
You can only hope
And you just want that to be enough.