The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to the ocean—
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition.

It took me seven years
to realise
the words in my mind
were too deep for
my mouth to dig up
I thought it was easier
to open my skin
and let the truth
pour down my arms

It took me seven years
to realise
nobody should be allowed
to touch parts
of your home
or hold pieces  
of your heart
that you don't yet understand

It took me seven years
to realise
I will wear these scars
forever
I'll carry them
through every smile
every kiss
every concerned gaze
I'll carry them
to my grave

It took me seven years
to realise
the pain carved
into the walls
of my castle
etchings of
attempting to disappear
are not a story of weakness
but a tale of
how I survived

Amidst the smoke and light and laughter
Along the smiles and cheers thereafter

A sound is bled, wrung free from strings
It bounds and treads and wholly sings
Inside each song, a secret’s moved
Not right nor wrong or frequent proved
The message dances from bow to ear;
A coded trance of love and fear
From left to right the story rings
Of death and light the Cello brings
The covert tale engulfs the room
It vibrates truth to those who loom
The Cello knows for why it’s played
Its secret lost, both gone and stayed

In the smoke and light and laughter
Music lies and cries thereafter

The three kind mice
are the oldest of the old
the wisest of the wise
the kindest of the kind

The first of all life
the first of all mice
the first of Hempstock blood

They see without seeing
they know without knowing
they give without expecting

They gave the tick and the tock
to the hands of the clock
and the sand to the wind
and the glass to the hour
and time its name and its nature

They gave the moon
the blanket of night
and the lullaby of stars
and the ocean the warm breath
and goodnight kiss of the sun
and dream its name and its season

They gave the tree
the root and the trunk
and the trunk the branch
and the  branch the leaf
and life its name and its being

They gave the heart
a rhythm and a beat
and a home beneath
flesh skin and bone
inside of all that would be
and love its name and its reason