The hidden message -------------- It was the year the seas and the skies were stilled to you I walked to where you played with me not knowing what to do There under the palm trees blown over by the sands I knew there was a parchment that you'd taken from my hands You wrote on it with a pencil and hid it somehwere here "Find it, my Doll!" I heard you say And I searched far and near But then I remember, it began to rain skipping beside you I walked a perfect end to a perfect day left the parchment safely locked And there it was for aeons until I walked back here blinded, not knowing what to do now that you weren't near I brushed aside little dunes of sand Knowing in my heart The winds wouldn't have taken it they'd have kept it under guard And there I found the parchment Under a rock beside the tree trembling as I opened it tears welled up like the sea The yellowed parchment opened And it brought you back to me I knew you'd writen a message Though there was nothing there to see Blank, it read on the top right The Twenty Fifth of May An empty line addressed to me "My Doll", began to say Beneath it, etched a message invisible, then went on "When you read this I'll be far away" "But did I say I'm gone?" "If there's something I don't tell you" "Then it really isn't there" "Didn't we agree on that, my Doll?" "Did I tell you I don't care?" "I'll never ever leave you" "Did I tell you I'd ever do?" "So tell me what brings up all these tears" "And I'll fix it all for you" I stopped after that paragraph a little stronger at this stage I waited on the blank line Before the next one on the page "I've been hurt so much, so badly" "I've been lonely since you've gone" "I've been lost and never found me" "I've been razed and bruised and torn" "My Doll", the next line read "There's no one else like you" "You are my gift, my whole essence" "To the world, you're everything that's true" "When you smile, I smile", it read "I see what your bright eyes see" "I think your thoughts and so I live" "Through you, so live for me!" "You have my strength in you, my Doll" "Your hands create at will" "The most amazing things that the world" "Has ever seen, or will" The blank paragraph ended there I felt better, stronger, good And almost on cue, a gush of wind Skipped by, picked up my mood The empty lines beneath it then Playfully transcribed "There's a camel behind you lady" Said those jolly, empty, vibes "Look out to the sea, my Doll" "Its been custom made for you" "Its been singing to you all this time" "And to your Mr. Camel too" "No worries, go on, run back home" "There's no reason for this pain" "Go on, Mr. Camel, give her a ride" Before it rains again The barren lines went on to laugh At your jokes until the end I wasn't lonely, wasn't weak I was capable and content And so I kept the parchment When in happiness or in pain Every time I needed you Read those empty lines again And each time I read the message It wouldn't read the same Until I'd reach the last line Yearning for a name I couldn't see your pictures And I'd locked away your things But I longed to see the faintest mark Of the name that gave me wings But instead, in a last blank scroll The message seemed to say "Did I say I was Time, my Doll?" "I'll come back to you one day" ---------------- 13 March 2018 11:56 PM