*From My Stone Children Series..*

Today at dawn,

Before the sun had climbed into the sky,

A child came and sat by my side.

She sat so close,

I wanted to move away

But

I didn’t want to frighten her,

So I stayed…


And felt her pain

Wash over me like a cold shower:

All sharp needles and electric shocks-

Felt her need for peace crying out to me ,

Like a wolf howling at the moon…


Felt her craving release

From a world she found harsh and cruel.

Saw her arms covered in scars

Like some obscene game of tic tac toe-

And

I didn’t have to ask who had won…


Sadness caved in on me

Like a shadow passing over the sun-

And no,

I don’t know why it is they come to me…

Or why

They choose me to share their pain with.

I only know

I can’t turn them away…

And when they come, they come to stay.


And now, she was here-

Reaching out her pale white hand,

And touching my soul with the pain

I saw in her eyes-

So I showed her the path through the Garden.

Showed her how to pass through the walls untouched-


Let her pale cold fingers reach out

and touch my shoulder-

Though it cost me much-

(for I too can bear no human touch)

but

She needed to know I was real…


I led her to the center of the Garden.

Where we washed her wounds

In the crystal ponds.

And gave her a drink from the fountains

That taste like spring after the rain:

So pure,

So clear,

So safe-

and

We washed the blood from her soul…


And when they ask where she has gone,

I will tell them;

This Stone child had somehow found

Her way to me-

And though I never called her name,

She came, and I could not turn her away…


And I led her to the only place I knew

Where she could find peace…

To my Garden of Stone

Where we will let her scars blend in

With the rough bark of my trees.

Where she could hide behind the dark leaves

Until she is ready for us to see

The beauty she hides inside…


I led her to a place

Where we don’t ask

But listen if you want to speak-

Where you can sit and watch the sun

as it crawls across the sky-


Where the beautiful stone children will creep

Out of their hiding places

and braid a crown of flowers

To wear in your hair,

And when you are ready,

Welcome you

Home…