At one time, I had a secret place.
Full of mystery, of light, of grace,
An architecture of stone, wrapped
In silken vines and flowers

Clovered rock and broken pew
Abandoned but innocent, anew
It bloomed from the destruction
It had been carved from, to peace

To serenity, a dark past forgotten,
A new hope in silence, begotten
Yes, peace, serenity, new life,
Of these traits it sparkled through streaming sunlight

Last time I was there however,
I thought it to be the last, forever.
The rain had pounded relentless
And when I went to take shelter there

I found no soothing safety.
No evidence of serenity.
The clear beige stone painted then
With the blood of fifty bullets.

I dropped to my knees,
A new pain unleashed
A dark past repeated, the devastation,
Of what had once been good there.

Broken stone that had held
Warmth, life and strength; melds
Into cold, hard stone
Hewn from pillars with the bodies broken against it

War happened there, brutal and complete
And I crumbled with the walls, as sleet
Plundered down through the halls
And upon my shoulders, pinning me there

This place, my best friend, my escape
Had turned into a place of pain, even hate
Of self torture, of visions of blood
To relive the beheading of all that was good.

I ran from that place, I tried to never look back.
I let the home fade with the light- to black.
I made a new place, small, quiet and safe
Hidden from the world, forsaking my place.

Today, while staying in that hiding hole,
One day of now months, alone, but whole,
Used to this new refuge, safety in solitude
Secured in darkness no one can find

I heard the smallest of whispers, a flute
On the wind, familiar, but frightening,
Coming from within, a place I knew silenced
By gunfire and rain, I stood from my shelter, and I walked again

I left the dark safety, as if caught in a trance
Feet following a path, I once had tread with dance
That way was becoming overgrown, from so long unused
But I knew the way, naturally following the muse

Every step forward, quickened my breath
Do I dare go back and look, at the life turned to death?
Would it hurt all over again? It was cold when I left…
But that sound if coming from somewhere… if I just look-

Look! There… beyond the last turn
A glance of sunlight on stone wall, and my heart starts to yearn
My pace rushes with my pulse, to see the place still standing
In my thoughts, since leaving, I'd only dreamt of it crumbling

Through the forest, and onto the stone,
My best friend is wounded but… no longer alone.
The pain is still here, and I still want to cry
The blood stains are browning, fading since 'goodbye'

But I still see them, I remember the first
I remember seeing the blooms when they'd been dying of thirst
Bullet shells and broken chairs still litter the floor
Glinting in the sunlight, revealing even more

Pain, yes, but as I cross to the middle, a change
Something different, something new, something little.
The center of the courtyard, broken cobblestone had been torn
From the fighting, the battle, the tantrums, the storm

It had ripped away the stone and structure, busted it to bits
But here, in the middle, where it was laid bare… it's..
Growing. Something new, something persistent, green life
In the middle of what was born out of only weapons, lightning strike

Again, brought to my knees, I kneel at its side
I see the highlight of light, along the edges of leaves, and inside
Young still, fragile, but full of promise
Full of hope, and home, and a reminder of what was lost.

These same vines once curved around columns,
And as the glow of life returns to my eyes, I see, here they still do
Here it is growing in the new places
To mend, and stitch the new holes, and to close the old wounds.

Maybe this place… it can't be what it was.
You can't reforge stone, or simply paint over blood
But nature has a way, of doing its part
It will take what's left of this core, what was torn apart

And make a new place, with the same memories as the old
The same whispers of peace and serenity retold.
No it won't look the same, but if this continues to grow
A structure will turn into a Garden of Eden… and a new home.

With green glow back in my eyes, and strength back in my heart
I stand again, and I will do my own part
I will rebuild what I can, and create new for the rest,
And make it even better than it was before the test.

No matter how many gunmen, come knocking on the door
I will stand between them, and the place I adore
There is too much beauty still, and I will forsake us both never
This is my home. And I will protect it forever.