Possibility

I wonder sometimes when I look at people
whether they know
or they don't know.
They must know--they must see--
because even when I hide it, it's written
on my forehead and the backs of my hands;
it comes out when I speak,
a steady undercurrent beneath my words.
You have eyes, you have ears,
you have a heart and a butterfly-filled stomach,
so you KNOW, you MUST know

but you can't know because if you did know
the knowledge of it would overcome you
and you'd stare at nothing, lose time,
lose your breath with the pain of not
being able to cry, and I can see you,
I can see that you go on living
and so there is no possibility
that you know.