{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~
