Would you care if you knew?

 what it felt like I mean.

to have hurt someone so deeply,

because hurt people hurt people,

before you knew the meaning of the phrase.

would you care that the aftermath ripples

over and over.

not only in your own mind,

in your own heart

like a flashback you didn't trigger

like a cut you thought only scarred, 

but also in the eyes of those around you

like a scarlet letter

a brand that you'll never get rid of.

I wonder when you remind me

of the pain

I caused you

if you wonder too?

who first hurt who?