Steps

There’s a place I sit
at the top of the steps
where I listen intently
to all that is said
down below
She doesn’t know
I’m here
I hear
I tread carefully so I as to not awake
the floorboards that creak and give me away
And although I don’t understand
all that is meant
I have spent
many hours in this spot
Her voice drifts up in waves
and I can only catch some
of what is said
but it’s enough to know
that it’s about me
and I am scared to be
the cause of her need
to talk so quietly
I worry big
and curl up small
until I hear nothing at all
from my spot at the top of the steps