I am awakened by a dream
That slowly comes into view
From gray shadows to crystal clarity
Of both sight and sound
Distant fire crackles
The smell of burning wood stretches
These miles of open wilderness
The rolling water of the river
Behind me
I stand in thanks to the spirits
That have shown me the way
And the bounty I will share
A great storm erupts on the distant horizon
Sweeping across the plains
Relentless
Destructive
Thunder rolls and lightning strikes
The swirling winds gather us up
And take us away
The cries
Echo in my head
Then fade to black

Immediately the oyster felt it, a piece of grit, a source of pain.
The little creature could not expel it; every attempt was in vain.
How to endure this rank discomfort? How to bear it and survive?
The Oyster had but one solution, one thing left for it to try.
Each day the oyster’s own secretions coated that tiny piece of grit
And in the end, when all was done, the oyster made a pearl of it.

When, like me, you lose a parent while still young.
There is this pain you bear inside.
Each day it haunts your waking thoughts
However you might try to hide.
Day by day you seek to cope, though it seems helpless at the first.
A year or more might pass before you feel that you’ve survived the worst.

Time, like that oyster, seeks to heal; to encapsulate loss and regret;.
Tim to heal, Time to grieve, just accept you can’t forget.
So you keep your public face and show that bravely to the World
Until the lacuna in your soul, with Time’s mercy, becomes a pearl.