She was hidden by the horrors
Under a rubble of questions and pain
I found her there, invisible
Once the bulldozers had gone away

A wisp of life somehow still living
Under a quarry of lies
Her tiny frame existing
When no creature should have survived

And she is beautiful
A fragment of silver
A waif with no name
She is delicate and silent
Through the fallout her essence remains

I listen to the whispers
Her gentle innocent voice
About the times she made herself disappear
The times she had no choice

She didn’t know how to die, she explains
She only knew how to hide
She couldn’t carry the burden they gave us
Without retreating inside

We took the blows the rest of us
And braced ourselves to take the pain
When the buildings came crashing down
We protected her innocent frame.

She didn’t see a thing she says
She felt not a single fear
She just cuddled up inside herself
Until the coast was clear

And now the threat is over
The horrors have ceased to be
There’s no pain left to hide her from
She survived and at last she is free

I barely can believe it
I still want to shield her frame
But her rising laugh reminds me
It is safe now; it is safe, for the beautiful waif with no name

written by a woman in her 40s