'Image of a Child' - (Poem)

IMAGE OF A CHILD

Image of a child
Forlorn and still
Denied his ‘self’
By another’s will

Vulnerable, sad expression
Motionless of face
But eyes betray a depth
Others cannot trace

Staring outward, inward
I catch his lonely gaze
Somehow reaching to me
Through time’s haze

Familiarity is there
Though the connection seems lost
Too much over-care
And with it the cost

I pause and in the moment
Something deep awakes
Clarity of knowing
Clear memory forsakes

Solitude and sadness
Filter through the door
Sense of separation
Presses me for more

* * *

Let it flow
Attend to it with care
Expel all the clatter and focus there.
Approach with compassion
Be open to your ‘self’
Embrace the tender child
Emerging from within

Take those little hands in yours
Draw them close to you
Nothing now to bar the way
Accept and be true

Mirror, mirror comes at last
Recognition dawning
Murky ice of years past
Slowly thawing

Disclosing scars and torment
Acknowledging pain
Limping towards loving
Moving to reclaim
That precious thing once lost.

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