I attempted to respond to a recent post on The Writing Corp blog (http://thewritingcorpofficial.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/writers-workshop-intro/) that asked readers to submit a 100-word essay on exploring a cave as a creative writing project. My writing resulted in recalling powerful childhood memories and became the poem I share here.

The cave that I write about is actually a safe place that I would create as a child. Most of the time I would find find it in the church adjacent to the school I attended, but I was able to find it whenever or wherever I needed to escape my loneliness.  I had a large family and had at least one “best friend,” but I could never escape the feeling that I never quite fit in with others around me. My cave was the place where I could be – me.

together
we would sit
without words
and listen
to our silence
that spoke
in ways
we understood
and accepted
we could be …
we could just be
sometimes
I would talk
share my thoughts
reveal my pain
and laugh out loud
when happiness
filled the void
sometimes
I could hear
the whisper
of silence
and feel
its loving embrace
and know
I was not alone