Please come in, don't leave
your fear at the door
like muddy shoes too dirty
to bring inside.
Pull up a chair and tell me
what you cannot tell yourself
in the dark hours when the demons
threaten to swallow you whole
then spit you out into the next day-
chilled and terrified.

I know you don't want to
but take my hand anyway.
Let's jump into the sea,
dive way down to the bottom
where the black pearl is lost
somewhere between the soft folds
of your oyster heart...

© Kaveri Patel 2011