Janie was playingand tossed a word thoughtlessly:
called her sitter "dumb."
She'd been told it hurts --
she'd been told not to use it --
but out the word tripped.
Her sitter, calm, said
"That really hurts my feelings,"
as Jane's lip quivered.
Jane whispered "sorry,"
ran off to her room to hide,
fell asleep crying.
When the sitter came
this week Janie hid her face
and sobbed in my shirt.
"I feel sad, Mama.
I'm so sorry I hurt her.
I can't look at her."
"It's ok, Janie,"
her sitter tells her softly,
"I know you're sorry."
But Janie still sobs.
Pulls covers over her head
as she hides in bed.
Before I left home,
Janie had fallen asleep
tear tracks on her cheeks.
"I don't want her back,"
Janie said in the morning,
"It makes me too sad."
"You made a mistake,
but you learned and you're still loved,
and shame can poison."
We write the hurt on
on some magician's paper,
and I strike a match.
Eyes wide, she watches
as the words flare and are gone
with a flash and poof!
She smiles up at me,
face softly glowing with joy,
and whispers, "That helped."
Have I mentioned what a great mother you are?
ReplyDeleteYOU ARE A FABULOUS MAMA!!!!!!
and Janie is a sweet, smart girl to be able to learn the magic of letting go at her age. She's pretty fabulous, too.
Thank you for sharing this story. Have a great weekend.
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love your Haiku Fridays. This one is hard to read, so real, makes me feel your child's feelings, but reminds me of times when I've hurt people and have felt too ashamed to face them. You nailed it. I especially love Janie's dialogue.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! What is this magician's paper of which you speak?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, if I was mad, I would write it down on a piece of paper and rip the paper into tiny little pieces. Same idea but not as cool.
Fantastic and beautiful, MPJ. I felt a sense of letting go just reading it.
ReplyDeleteSunny, it's paper that flares up brightly when lit and burns up quickly with no visible residue. You can see a video of some magic tricks using it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1an2T_5l6lk
ReplyDeleteIf you google magician's flash paper you'll find places that sell it or instructions for making it yourself.
You have a gift. That was beautiful and very poignant.
ReplyDelete