Do you remember her?
We never really thought of her too much.
The quiet girl in the back of the class
She spoke in breathtaking whispers
And lived in her own rhythms.
We hurt her, we bullied her
Picked at her skin and left her with bruises
Stole her precious things, her strange
Jewels and the life and brightness
From her skin.
She was the best brutal entertainment,
Never running out
Of ways to terrorize and strip her
Of everything she was
Till one day
She was gone
And we didn’t know what to do.
Believe it or not, I loved her.
The way she smelled of fresh rain,
Of soil and water releasing
Running down her fingers and legs
That girl was so much water.
I loved the things she made,
Delicately and intricately arranging
A canvas of beauty for no one to see
Not for the purpose of being seen,
she made it for us.
Gave unselfishly and endlessly
But we always took too much.
I heard of a man who went digging for oil.
Plunged his fingers deep into her caves
Ignoring her screams and cries,
He ripped out all he could
Leaving her empty and torn in two
Shaking in pain.
Even as we begged him to stop
All of us stood by watching,
The hideous bystanders
Shocked and quiet
No one dared disrupting.
She gave me a space for my feet
To feel something beneath me and around me
That was bigger than myself.
She gave me rest for my body
To lay down and be held
In her soothing arms,
She gave me a home to have
Without questions or conditions
She gave me food and water,
Life to nurture
To fill me up, hold me down
And hold me together.
I loved her so much
And I just want to tell her
Before she’s gone,
When without her
we won’t know what to do.
Too Far From the Sun 