Raven and Dove

I saw your soul
When I looked into your eyes
You were like this Raven
about to take flight in the night sky,
But there, inside your breast,
Was this tangle of black vines and walls
A blanketed prison of secrets, emotions,
All the pain and endless sadness and fear
You had felt your entire life.

In the tiniest corner it glimmered,
In the dustiest corner of your soul,
There was this little patch of light,
The purest gleam of hope,
Intermingled with a struggle so full of life.

You kept there in the dustiest corner,
As if waiting for the one person,
Who would illuminate that corner,
Before it flickered out and died.

You would fly the murkiest nights,
Doing the same old thing,
Searching out the people
Who would hurt you so good,
It nearly felt like love.

Then along came a dove that alit beside you,
Shedding light warming your dark cold breast,
Extending her wing and taking you to a place,
You have never been,
A place where love is freely given.

Days stretched to months but the dove,
Could not extinguish your cries,
Could not chase away the years of anguish and fear,
The years of abuse and neglect,
But the dove stayed until her light was going out,
Stayed until her wings became so heavy,
She could hardly lift them.

But the dove knew that she would die,
She had been brought down and defeated,
Sharing the raven's burden was more then she could bear,
So she lifted her heavy wings and flew away,
Until she became light again,
Praying that someday that little raven,
would soar into the light,
And be cleared of all her pain.