A CALLOUSED HEART

I've tilted the soil
Of your unattended heart 
Removing the roots 
That produced not

You were called barrenness 
No one passed your way 
While you were dry and parched 
By the the pains of your past 

I rise up early in the morning 
In the company of the dew
As the morning began to wash away 
The nights clouds from its eyes 

I kneeled at your feet 
And anointed them with 
The oil of my compassion 
When your tears
Like a river, stained your cheeks 

I poured the water of love
On that which was considered dead 
And over time,life sprung up
You became alive, bearing fruit 

But that which I had cultivated 
The fruit of my labor 
The love that I had lavished on you
Another has eaten
While I am left hungry and starved
For your love.

Wilford Barker.