A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

The thread was never broken – only hidden beneath
the weight of fears unspoken, and the cost of her release.
Her ends were loose and frayed: a single thread can’t hold
echoes of joy decayed so you became the vault.

A lesser man would shatter in the silence that would follow
but you held on to what matters and you let her make you hollow,
so she tangled up inside you, tied your feelings in a knot
and they saw fit to hide you, the boy they thought that joy forgot.

But she remained within you, unbalanced, unopposed.
In sharp shadows of solitude, you kept your heart locked closed.
From time to time your memories yearned to be shared with a page.
Scrawled in violet ink then burned, shoved back inside their cage.

I never learned to weave or sew, was never taught those arts,
but I can thread notes on a stave, and I can sing what’s in my heart.
I’ll sing to you my melody that calls you by your name,
reminds you what you mean to me, and keeps alive the flame

of golden love that is the glue I can use to repair
each scar they’ve left upon you, with the reverence of prayer.
I’ll weave my feelings into words, I’ll set my soul to music,
and if you lose your way with yours, rely upon my magic.

I’ll sing you hope, I’ll sing you home, even across an ocean.
Just keep your hand within my own, open to my emotion.
The bass line is my heartbeat, that beats in time with yours.
You touch my skin, it skips a beat, we hear the rhythm pause.

E minor chords will start my song, I’ll sing to you of yearning,
of wondering where you belong, your longing turns to hurting.
Loneliness begs for relief, you wish for something finer,
and so from there we move to grief, key change into D minor.

I’ll sing to you of your sorrows now, I’ll breathe into your mourning,
each loss etched upon your brow which furrows now in warning
as you hear me name each ache, give voice to every pain
you’ve suffered for another’s sake, and would do so again.

I’ll sit beside you in the dark; your own dark doesn’t scare me.
I’ll hold it all in loving arms, there’s no need to prepare me
for anything you know I’ll see. Don’t hold a single thing back.
Just lay all of your truths on me, and let me echo love back.

From E to D, we’ll change to C – this minor key carries fury.
Righteous rage flares at your history. My judgement needs no jury.
I condemn them all, but one: I know your mother loved you
and anything that hurt her son broke apart her heart too.

And as I scream defiantly for justice and revenge,
I’ll bring along in harmony my hopes for you afresh.
A rainbow arcs the pale blue sky, the calm after the storm,
retreating clouds are silver-lined, hope for another dawn.

A major second upward, unrelated keys. Chromatic modulation
climbs into the major D. A sudden transformation
and in this moment you’ll believe that dark can turn to light.
There’s finally hope for some reprieve from your shadowed night.

Key change again to C major, I’ll sing you back your joy.
I’ll sing that thread out from her cage, no longer half destroyed.
That thread was never broken – just hidden deep within,
now she’ll be once more woken and we can now begin

to weave her back into the loom, to plait her into braids
that balance out her joy with gloom, and balance calm with rage,
and balance hope beside despair, and woven through them all
a rosy thread of love runs there. Whenever you feel small,

whenever you feel lost, alone, or hurt or like you’re worthless,
my thread of love will sing you home. I promise you regardless
of where you are or what you’ve done, or how dire things might seem,
I’ll sing my feelings one by one; and permeate your dreams.

The thread was never broken – only hidden beneath.
So now let truths be spoken; let silence find release.
Let’s weave our facts and feelings, repair this tattered fabric
with love that is healing, with love that is magic.