UNSAID
I stand on my side of the river.
You stand on the opposite bank,
our pain mirrored in the water.
I cry out, “Come across.”
You cringe, turn away.
I don’t understand.
Softly I say, “Please.”
You hold your ears;
my word falls short.
I wade into the torrent,
to meet you part way.
Icy chill stops my breath.
You put one foot in,
pull it right out,
tell me no, you can’t.
I crawl back to shore.
Legs frozen, my body
shivers in the wind.
The words of healing remain unsaid.
The current of pain is too strong.
HER OWN LIFE
She held on hard to her own life.
The outer life slipped away by degrees
as those around her chipped away,
changing her into someone of their making.
She retreated within herself, hid herself.
By protecting her soul in this way,
the core of her being remained intact.
On the outside,
she allowed herself to be molded and shaped
into whatever the others demanded of her.
But that was only a shell, a cocoon.
One day she would figure out
how to discard the cocoon and turn into
the butterfly of her dreams.
