I peep behind the horse chestnut tree
as you run far and wide,
and I begin to count to twenty-five.
1 banana, 2 banana, 3 banana...
Ready or not, here I come!

Are you hiding over there?
I begin to search high and low
wondering where did you go?
Then I hear your stiffled giggle
Ah, I found you and my smile is wide;
Now its my turn to run and hide.

We giggle and run down the garden
and you begin to count behind the tree
1 banana, 2 banana, 3...
I run towards the garden shed
to the side of the house,
as I attempt to be as quiet as a mouse.

I crawl behind the compost bin
and crouch behind the reeled up hose
but, then I hear your footsteps begining to get closer.
So, I hold my breath a little
and I try and keep myself steady...
Oh **** it, how did you find me already?!

©️Lizzie Bevis

Up through the ground,
kissed by the frost,
a tender bloom seeks
a light long lost,
with some gentle force
and quiet power,
hope emerges on the green
as a snowdrop flower.

But, if such a small
and fragile thing
can pierce the frost
to greet early spring,
then why can't we,
like a snowdrop stay,
to wake and rise
on a cold January day?

Our strength must lay
dormant within,
beneath the cold joints
that make us wince,
so, we must try to learn
to trust and be seen,
like the gentle snowdrops
growing on the green.

©️Lizzie Bevis

They did not know who I'd be,
I was a child back then, not yet set free.
Each wound they left became a door
Through which my naked pain would pour.

The child they knew has long since fled,
And as time passed my tears were shed.
They have my photograph old and worn,
While I became a woman scorned.

How great it is to know that they cannot see
The strength that has grown wild inside of me.
Their story is over, that page has turned,
Their privilege was lost and lessons were learned.

Let them keep their faded view
Of someone they once long ago knew,
As they hold firmly onto the past
While I am free to fly at last.

©️Lizzie Bevis