WE'RE ALIKE, YOU AND I

We're alike, you and I.
We've never met
Our faces would be those of strangers if we met
We would barely perceive the other's presence
If we passed on our walk through the mists
We're unknown to each other
Until the terrible words have been spoken
"MY CHILD DIED"
We're alike, you and I
We measure time in seconds and eternities
We try to go forward to yesterday
Tomorrows are for the whole people,
And we are incomplete now
The tears after a time turn inward
To become invisible to all save you and me
Our souls are rumpled from wrestling with demons.
And doubts and unanswerable prayers.
"GIVE ME BACK MY CHILD"
We're alike, you and I.
The tears that run down your face are my tears
And the wound in your soul is my pain too.
We need time, but time is our enemy
For it carries us farther and farther
From our lost child
And we cry out;
"HELP ME"
We're alike, you and I.
And we need each other
Don't turn away, but give me your hand
And for a time we can cease to be strangers
And become what we truly are,
A family closer than blood.
United by a bond that was forced upon us---
But a bond that can make us stronger,
Still wounded and not to sure,
But stronger for our sorrows are shared.
"WE NEED NOT WALK ALONE"
written by Judy Dickey