"Hello little girl.
Are your still crying here inside?.
Hunched in this dark and lonely corner,
All smeary faced and sniffly eyed."

"Do you have no place to go?
No company to keep you through the night?
No one to hold and love you?
None with a kiss to make things right?"

"I never had a loving home,
Just secret dreams to keep me warm.
But I know how to run and how to hide,
In this lonely corner safe from harm."

"I thought no one could find me here.
Hiding in this darkened nook.
It is the only place I know
Where no one dares to come and look."

"How is it that you found me?
Who is it that you are?
That you should care to seek me out,
For none has entered here so far."

"I've come to take you home.
To bring love to my inner child.
For I am the outer woman,
In whom you safely hide."

Together we can travel,
On journeys far from here.
Fill our days with fun and love.
Trapped no more by fear."

"And I can be your mother,
Your protector and your guide.
And you can help fulfill our dreams,
To fill this empty void inside."

D.J. Ludlow Copyright 2002.

OK! Strange one for a man to write you may think, but there are many reasons why child abuse and its affects is a topic on which I have some knowledge and strong feelings (but I won't go into them here). I originally put this into the women's category not because it is exclusively a women's issue but because women are still the main victims. But then I changed it to health and wellness because THAT is what it is about and - it is not exclusively a women's issue!

I have several poems on this issue but this one was a special birthday present to a dear friend I've never met face to face and who lives on the other side of the World. I'm sure she is happy for me to share it if it helps someone else too!