Hidden Garden

I buried my shame below the ground

Down

Down

With bleeding, dirty fingernails I clawed my way down

Down

Down

As the festering ugliness weighed me down

Down

Down

Covering me, a thick layer of loathing and disgust

Under a bed of anger and distrust.

In this dark abyss no one could see

My hideous secret that devoured me.

The pit in my stomach an accusing reminder

I didn’t deserve anything kinder.

But then, slowly, the weather changed

And my whole perspective was rearranged

Compassion started falling like rain

Down

Down

And forgiveness bore down like the sun, easing my pain

Down

Down

Through the treacherous soil

Of my deep-rooted turmoil

From my dank dungeon I was finally freed

For the pit is the part of a flower that protects the seed

And the lies I’d been feeding myself did not nourish

Only with self-compassion could I flourish

Up up up

I started to sprout

Up up up

I let my secret out

Up up up

I reached for the sun

Up up up

My reawakening had begun

A blossoming flower emerges upright

From bitter darkness into healing sunlight

Standing strong and proud I no longer wilt

When occasional storms beat me with regret and guilt

For I am firmly planted; I am grounded

With every struggle I have rebounded

What buried me before

Now provides strength from my core

Once I languished, now I thrive

For only the plants with the deepest roots survive.