The earth is all forgiveness of neglect and lures me with its scents and sounds again. Inside myself, I feel a hunger for the soil; physical, beyond the mind’s knowing what is needed to be done.
Another day or two, I say, and I will come to you and play. Caress the earth in friendly tousling of hair and dirty cheek, just like a mother’s love that never goes away. I’ll work the earth and feed it seeds and bulbs. I’ll rake it gently after digging in to refresh it, as if to make a bed.
For someday soon I’ll find the comfort of its welcome, and it will let me sleep within its sheets.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology