The Silkworm Poem by Lizzie Lum

You slouched on a hard plastic chair outside my room
Head low, shoulders hunched, looking sullen
Your voice one of indifference over the phone
But there you were. Punctual, waiting patiently
Hiding underneath a bobble hat and hoodie
Skin ashen, eyes deadened but alive with despair

I was given an extraordinary gift that day
A privilege that has changed me forever
I am cocooned. Swathed. Wrapped up
The silkworm that silently spun a silvery thread all around
This gift that connected to a place in my heart
Knitting together the deepest fabric of my own self
Unravelling more of this mysterious world
Or perhaps mystifying it even further
I'm not quite sure which

I have been longing to know life in this way
Gracious, holy and bound up with untainted love
Magical and enchanting - the stuff of legend
And it broached me softly
Mockingly even, dressed up as hopelessness
Such youthful anguish, a modern melancholy
Yet it was me who was meek and lowly
Accepting the greatness you so innocently offered
Unselfish, generous and pure

Perhaps you noticed how I was humbled
And from my wonder at your sacredness
I will attempt to open your eyes and your heart
To this unconditional presence of magnificence
Hoping that you might in fact see yourself with it
As if looking through my eyes and feeling with my heart
To perceive your portrait of perfect imperfectness


© 2014 Lizzie Lumsden All Rights Reserved