Across the abyss

I will never forget

That rainy dismal December afternoon

You reached out a hand to me

Across the abyss

To connect with my hurting child

It was a deluge that fell

That I had to cycle through

To get to you

As I climbed the stairs one by one

In my wet weather gear

So strange how nature reflects our soul

At these times

I think of this now

How absent was the presence

Of loving touch within my family

I did not know this with my mind

But there was a reason I sought relief in booze

In a life unkind

That one touch of yours

Opened the floodgates in 1999

And the sluice gates came down later on

But just for that moment

You recognised the deep pain in my heart

And your hand was there

I ran away in fear

After a time

It would take longer to trust

I could be held

After being left for a time

And I know now

Not all suffering is of the mind

For there is a pain that lies buried

Deep inside the core of us

When we are not met

And are forced so far away

From human aid

And it will fester

Until one day some recognises it in us

And reaches out a hand across the abyss

To offer us a way

Out of it