‘The Rock’

I crawled from under a rock
To be here today
It seems so harsh to say
From so very far away
From my comfort zone
My rock, my home
I was only doing what you wanted
You wanted me to be seen
And not heard
You know it well enough
So it’s not so absurd
But to you it seemed
so easy
You could block me out
Easy peasy
But every now and then
The others heard of us
One or two even
Created a fuss
Hush hush I say
I was afraid
I didn’t know what to do
What and where
It would lead too
You know I fear you
But you know I love you
For a moment I was so... visible
But then you came
And I disappeared
The silence was loud
So loud no one could hear
I hid alone with my fear
It was then that it came to me
As I crouched there
I saw the rock
So I crawled under it
Till you all forgot

I crawled from under a rock
To be here today
Oh I know, I know
What some of you will say
Why don’t I crawl back?
Under my rock
The one that in time
Some forgot
But now I know
And I must tell you this
Face to face
I’m afraid I can’t
For someone else
Has taken my place

Copyright John Harrison 2009

"This poem was written one morning after visualizing myself at the mic in front of people, and thinking what I would say. The first lines of this poem started, and I wrote it down as it came out. After hearing this poem, a lady told me her daughter said “that’s how I felt”. A sentiment echoed by a couple of child abuse survivors before. I read this poem at a child abuse rally in Parliament square, London in 2009."

A video of it can be seen on YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion and of course my websites, where you can find links to them. Taken from my book 'Whispers From Within'. You can find out more about me via www.thepoetjohn.com (if its my writing you want to see more of) or www.Bsafe1stalways.com (if its abuse issues you wish to find out about).