The Twisted Arrow – Daughter 12/13/22

She hides. Concealed in the shadows, or so she thinks.

There is always the little rustle of leaves or the scraping

of a branch when she moves.

She speaks in jokes and flippant quips about life and what

She does not expect it to yield. Yet, she cries when the emotional

Load becomes too much to bear.

I often look at this child and wonder whether she is chasing life or death.

Both seem equally alluring to her fantasies. I wonder

If she is pursuing a beginning or an end… of what?

Now the piper has called, and we are standing, fighting tears we dare

Not cry, for her sake. It is we who stand in the gap and pray to Christ

And his father, that our child remains with us.

I shudder at the thought that I might lose a child. This one, I know her face and her laugh. I understand her hidden fear and perhaps her regret.

I look at her, trying to find the target. Trying to find the middle of where she belongs, but she is a twisted arrow too often missing her chosen mark.

Dripping in need, and sometimes sorrow. 

Afraid to ask for love and often forced into asking for help.

There is a bud growing silently within her, rising ever closer to the surface.

I pray, with God’s will, the blossom will be the beautiful flower she was born to be.

Evolution takes time, and I pray time is what we have!