Stay Mommy

I have walked through low valleys

with the shadow of death as my ally.

I have met what might take me across.

I did fear the evil -

deep down in my toes.

It smelt like charred bones;

smoky and rancid as burnt pig nose.

I felt the close breath of its chant in my ear:

“Come on, come on”, I’ll show you the fear,

tickling my throat with its

white, bristling whiskers.

I felt its relentless pull on my ankles

dragging me under, swirling eddies of rancor,

drowning in the rain

of riptide currents in my brain.

I felt the sticky threads of spider webs

crisscrossing my face, begging me to play;

foreshadowing decay.

I held onto the thought

of your soft little hands

cupping my cheeks;

the warmth of your fingers

tore me free from my cohorts -

Quieted their urgent calls;

echoes rippling into the fray.

God wanted me I’m sure.  

For although I was a demon in my own right,

wandering through the dust and darkness in

the lonely corners of my mind -

A little angel named you, -

alighted on my shoulder

and softly whispered:

“stay mommy”.