Elsie was a stubborn girl a willful thing at first
I watched her grow. My sister's daughter
My niece if you will

She had a way about her even then but time would carry change.
Today I can not place a moment .
something brought a change.

Elsie was an angry child.
She was meddlesome and vile.
She kept a vault
hidden. Deep.

Putrid and unkind roiled
about. An ugly distortion.
Why to this day.
Muted. Slithering.

An only child she loved her solitude.
sitting calmly with her hands folded
drifting to far off places with eyes
as hollow as a rotting stump
fallen long past. withered
weathered.

Elsie walked into the woods one day
seeking solitude. forlorn and forgotten.
A bird sang in the distance.
Elsie heard the song.
Now I am old and tired.

I have done all that was required.
made my mark however small
still and always through it all
I hear the mocking songbirds call


Elsie wonders there abouts
as nights grow cold
She still has not found home.
She will one day
no doubt.
dreams come
and go.
They
Tell
Me
So.