Stayed

You would not have gone,

If you had seen in my eyes

The kaleidoscope of pain

Mirrored in the eyes of a soaring bird,

Shot through the heart

To fall –

A stone

Upon the desert sand.

You would not have left

If you had felt my anguish

At having a beloved child with shining eyes

Dragged out, shrieking

Into the mist,

Of a bleak premature morn,

To be shot

Like a mad dog

At dawn.

You would have stayed

If you know my desolation.

You would not have torn off

The rainbow wings of a blue dragonfly

Like a cruel, thoughtless child

And left it to die

On the tender green grass

By the river side.

You did not know

Because I did not tell you.

Because I smiled,

And swallowed all my tears

Till they became

Poisoned arrows in my blood

Now, you will never know.