Oh little girl

{Warning: This post may contain triggers; please read only if you're ready.}

Bare feet on beams. We go to cool off down by the stream. It is 2013, and the memory washes so far over me that I catch my breath, forgetting children laughing under the bridge. I'm no longer here, I'm gone again - into the trap of the secret sin. I am remembering the halcyon days before you ruined my favorite clearing in the woods. I remember the cool of the shade, the feel of the moss under foot, the whispering wind quaking through the aspens, the shafts of sun lighting the world yellow and green. I was at peace there, it's where I went to think. I thought a lot when I was a child. Spaces of silence and solitude were sacred.

And so here it was that you found me. 

Sitting silent under a tree. 

I was amazed... how could it be?

A friend like you for a little girl like me?

You took my hand

and we sat down

No sound escaped

when you laid me on the ground.

Oh little girl,

the things you knew

darkened with her shadow

as you looked up at the blue

sky above

and earth below

dirt beneath your nails

as she mutilated slow.

She said, don't you dare tell.

The world swam

and you fell out of body

into her hands.

Your soul escaped

out through your eyes

you perched on branches

when she took you by surprise.

The precious thing -

you never knew -

she stole it long before

it was precious to you.

Oh little girl,

I wish you'd cried

I wish you'd beat her

every time that she tried

to shame your soul,

tearing at the seams,

she kept your tears

locked up in your dreams.

She knew the cost -

she'd paid it, too,

She knew exactly what

she was doing to you.

That clearing now

only appears

in your nightmares

and in your worst fears.

Where is the peace

she took away

When she crushed

you on that sunny day?

Her eyes looked down

she laughed out loud

glad she had wrecked you

without a sound.

Oh little girl,

where have you gone?

To heal the damage

I need you to come home now.

I finally feel

the missing piece

I finger lightly

because it still stings

Oh little girl,

why can't you cry?

How could someone

make you wish you could die?

Confused and scared

You made the leap

Out of safety

and under her feet

So go reclaim

that holy ground

this time when you scream

won't you make some sound?

Let it come

from deep within

and forgive yourself

for her dirty sin.

Oh little girl,

I'll keep you safe

come learn to weep

go pick your soul out of the heap

of trash she threw

deep in your mind

Oh little girl,

won't you be kind

hold yourself gently

while you're trying to find

the pathway out

from those dark woods

Oh little girl,

I'll take you home

to forgive yourself

now that you're grown.

Now you're grown.

Oh simple faith where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
~originally sung by Keane~