Stayed

You would not have gone,
If you had seen in my eyes
The kaleidoscope of pain
Mirrored in the eyes of a soaring bird,
Shot through the heart
To fall –
A stone
Upon the desert sand.
You would not have left
If you had felt my anguish
At having a beloved child with shining eyes
Dragged out, shrieking
Into the mist,
Of a bleak premature morn,
To be shot
Like a mad dog
At dawn.
You would have stayed
If you know my desolation.
You would not have torn off
The rainbow wings of a blue dragonfly
Like a cruel, thoughtless child
And left it to die
On the tender green grass
By the river side.
You did not know
Because I did not tell you.
Because I smiled,
And swallowed all my tears
Till they became
Poisoned arrows in my blood
Now, you will never know.