An Empty Space

When we saw the empty space of a child.
The child a mother had danced for

sang to -

those of us left alive understood.
No-matter what the grown-ups said to assuage our grief

we’d seen

hidden things.
Darkness. Fear. Loss.

Through childhood days we played-on.
Through hopeful nights we dreamed-on.

Children do.

But all the time we knew
waiting -

in the darkness of our distance

was an empty space.

Image; Art Johnstone. ‘An Empty Space’.

Recollections - Childhood travels to Great Ormond Street - Circa 1960s