I felt safer alone
in the dark
in the woods
with the animals
and the trees
then in my own home
as a child
I started to become
aware of the subtle shifts
of energy of peoples feelings
I would feel them shift
and go running
away from them
animals never scared me
they never harmed me
I felt like them
I walked with them
I realized thats how they feel
they feel me shift
I felt people shift
people scared me
they would shift
then become violent
I learned how to
feel them shift
before they became
violent
most of the time and
would run
hard
fast
deep into the woods
i could hide there
no one would find me
i could feel them
before they saw me
this kept me
safe it was the only
place i felt safe
alone with the animals
in the woods
the people in the churches
they were cruel
they did mean things
another kid hung himself
the building of love
lead to suicides and beatings
i used to write poetry
ignoring the sermon
i wrote
and wrote as long as i was
writing
i felt safe
then the kids would call me names
hit pull push laugh at
they scared me too
so i ran away from them
into the graveyard
into the dark corners
i used to hide in the corners i was
small i could hide
then i ended up
running away from all of it
i never went to school
i didn't understand people
then i met new people
i thought maybe they will be
kind
sometimes they acted kind
were nice told me nice things
then one time someone
who seemed kind
took me and then did bad
things for days
i remember how he felt
i stored the energy in my memory
anytime I felt that
ever again i would try to run
and hide
i was too small to fight
too small to fight them off
i knew if i tried
they would kill me
if i was a small animal
i would have to be like those
who run and hide
when the big ones come around
who want to eat me
sometimes
i found someone who
felt life me
then i knew
they were like me
i would feel safe there
they became my new pack
most of us
feel the same
sometimes i wonder
if the reason
i never seem to feel like
i have a home
is i never knew what
a safe one was
except the one
i created
with animals
and stones
with fire
and wood
in the city
now i feel so much
and know what it means
it pretty much protects me
against those who
want to just eat me
i have my pack
we are like wolves
protect each other
protect the pack
and those who
now think they can
harm us
i can feel you a mile away
move
now
run
now
danger

and we are hidden from you
for i refuse
to become
like you

but sometimes
i move through
so many people
never feeling one
that feels like us

and yet
i think
we once
were all
this aware

till we shut down
our senses
and our hearts