My lonely and sad friend
You have been a stranger to yourself
For so long
There are many parts of you
That you have never met
And other parts that have been
Lost in the wilderness
Searching for home

There comes a time
When, through Grace
And life’s experience,
You arrive at the door
Marked Home
But you cannot enter alone
You must take all of you

And that is when you
Come home to yourself
Embracing all those unloved
Neglected and abandoned ones
With loving kindness

It is the natural movement of things
To attend to the wounds of youth
To the trauma and defensive strategies
Learned in childhood
Indeed if we do not
We will be ruled by them
Our whole lives
And slip into bitterness
Or depression.