Close by your side

Bless you

I see the innocence in your eyes

I see how hard you tried

I understand what you carried inside

And could not speak of

I feel the weight too of the silence

Between you and I

It makes sense of why

Sometimes I hold myself back

I guard my heart

Uncertain of the reception I will find

And then when angered

I fight the impulse to be unkind

Because when we hurt

The easiest thing

Is to hurt back

And yet there is no loss of power

In knowing what was dealt to us

Made no sense

There is wisdom and strength in understanding

All along it was about something else

And so that is why I hold close these days

To the heart of my inner child

Who struggled to understand

Why the world was this way

And in my mind’s eye

I see her in all her simple magnificence

Side by side with the lion that always lived inside

Could never die

The heart of true courage

Is to know yourself

To hold close to your truth

And to recognise that even when the world hurts

You are not alone

If your inner peaceful warrior

Always stays

Close by your side