my beloved sweet child

Look here,
to the place where there are no flashpoints.
Look here,
to the place where you might feel exposed,
surrendering in your gaze.

Turn your head from the noise,
from the relentless pops and shocks.
Release the hooks and haste, my beloved sweet child.

Turn to me,
my eyes.
Gaze deeply into me and invite me to gaze into you.

Let me hold you as you shudder
from the exhausting strain of being human.
Surrender to the soothing whisper, “it’s okay, it’s okay.”

Trust me, even if just for this moment.
Even if bombs drop all around us.
Even if the stories in your head sting like daggers.
It’s okay, my beloved sweet child, it’s okay.

Where might you run to,
if I weren’t holding you so tightly?
Might you find yourself at the dead end
of a street called ‘fear?’
Would you return to me,
if I sing to you in the blinding night,
beckoning you back to the place called ‘home?’

In my arms, I swaddle you.
Yet you wiggle to get free.
It’s okay, my beloved sweet child, it’s okay.

Look here,
into my gaze,
into the place where love lives.
Gaze until you get lost — I’ll find the way home.
Look here, into my smile,
mirror my surrendering eyes.

Look here,
where my sleepy lips softly shape the whispering words,
“I love you — It’s okay, my beloved sweet child, it’s okay.”