TREAD GENTLY

(a poem to a new therapist)

 

Please~ tread lightly in my psyche

there are children hiding there;

Some are crouching in the cupboards

some are floating in the air.

A few are in the garden

and a few are flying free;

But none of them, not one of them

I recognise as "me".

 

If you look inside my psyche

and you look to really see;

You'd find babies in the bedroom

and some sailing on the sea.

There's brer rabbit in his burrow

and a dragon standing guard;

So if you look into my psyche

Then you'd best not look too hard.

 

You'd see a snowflake and a bit of dirt

children crying, children hurt;

A Ten-year-old inside her head

Lying bruised on an iron bed

Please don't look into the bathroom,

please don't peer inside of me;

Unless your soul is healthy

and prepared for what you'll see.

 

But if you look into my psyche,

and you look with love to see;

You can help me heal the children there

You can help me set them free.

 

Copyright © Elysha Newland 1998

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