Black and white snapshots,
Frozen in time—
A pinafore dress,
Braids neatly aligned.
Tears rim her eyes,
A lonely girl’s face.
Why does your heart ache?
Run, child, embrace grace.
A child on a swing,
Posing on cue.
“Say cheese, look this way!”
But a bee finds her too.
Gold lockets dangle,
Blue pools stare through.
A picture of perfection,
Still, not enough for you.
Search high and low,
A faint light will gleam.
The heart may be wounded,
Yet the spirit redeems.
Discarded, forgotten,
Thrown to the curb.
No value assigned,
Yet something stirs.
Tears fall from heaven,
Cold hands, frozen still.
The little girl waits,
Alone on the hill.
Raindrops, raindrops,
Wash it away.
Grant her the freedom
To truly play.
“Oh, Daddy, oh Mommy,
The price I have paid.
A woman now rising,
I’m finding my way.”
Brown Study and Wool-Gathering 