Here we are; a poem: ------- I'm experiencing a thud A thud like a book hitting the floor A heavy rock dropped on salty, ocean sand But this thud is of a tree that began it's life upon my head at the age of twelve. The seed of a girl's affliction. Woe the water allowing the bearing of an initial thought. Now, a branch has broken off and landed on the palm of my hand A twig by sized comparison I saw it fall. I stood and observed. Silent Once in my grasp, I rose it to my head. I closed my eyes then pressed it in the center between my eyebrows... To feel. Inhale deep and slow I keep you there for more than a moment It marked the skin to mold to it's shape by the pressure I wanted and caused With both hands, then, I put it upon my cheek, lovingly Eyes remaining closed. I open them, and sit Legs crossed. I want to know why you are here Why did you chose to land where I could catch you? You fell into my arms I love you very much Love so as the cold wind on my face So as the dirt on my feet; as the grass on my back while I lay bare by the stump of a woman sitting; hands on her face and knees to her chest. Forgotten by everyone but You Because you remained for her after the waves washed all loved away. You were nothing before then I love this thing, branch-thing I hold, broken as it is It is broken I am broken I feel broken I feel like my ears are being pushed in by their own weight and I'm being dragged by my feet and hung upside down My eyes are sinking into my head and my tongue is devoured by the acid in my stomach as this horrid taste drips out of my lips and nose. It runs down past my eyes to my hair The blood rushes to my head and my scalp is hot Warmer and warmer my head gets, but my legs are cold The immense weight in my chest pulls me apart and I drop torn in two My legs hang dead and frozen above me The remaining blood spills slowly on my face, my forehead I feel down to my waist to where I end and peel at the skin Everything turns dark. Black as black as black as a moonless night. Black as black as black as the silence of peaceful existence Black is black, but existence still exists. I still exist. You still exist. So I sit up from the dusty ground. My memories are alive and the darkness gone. All the colors combine and there is endless light, forever. I stand up and hear a crack above me. I see a branch falling from my head. I let it fall to the ground. I stare at it. It stares right back. I pick it up and hold it to my cheek. I close my eyes and You exist. I don't know why You fell from mind. I don't know why You are here. But I hold you now because I was once broken. I was once torn from my roots from where I was nurtured. I wanted nothing but to be cherished then. I lived by a woman. She sat on a stump with her face buried into herself. Grieving for lost and alone. You are with me, and I am with You You are cared for now, little one. Remember that.