Where to Start (A Poem)

There are many things
as a teenager
that you can't bring yourself
to say to your parents

Maybe you were drinking at a party
Maybe you spent the night at a boy's house
while his parents were on their Bahamian cruise
Maybe you scuffed your bumper parallel parking
and covered it with nail polish
and just hoped

They are withholdings of self-preservation

But then there are the things
that you cannot tell
because you want to protect
Them
Or maybe you don't know
where to start

Do you start with
I'm sorry
or
I'm lost
or
I'm broken

Do you start with
I need help
or
Please do something
or
Please do nothing

Do you start with
He was my friend
or
He touched me
or
How could he?

Or maybe you just wait
hope it goes away
and perhaps with time there will be
nothing
to tell