Carrying Stones

I have been watching her
Thin as a rail
As her dreams
Are starved out of her

She has become
wafer thin
Blowing
This way and that
But trying to
Appear
As if
She is cemented to the ground
“Just like everybody else”

I remember the feeling of
The starving time
How it wracked my insides
Until I hardly knew what was

Up or down
Forward or backward

Then I
Remember
Rebuilding

How heavy the stones were
In
The
Beginning
As I carried them across the distance
To stack them
One
By
One
It was lonely work
Until I realized
The Friend had joined me
And was carrying
Twice
The load I was every day
I thought about asking the Friend to leave
Trying to preserve the sense
“I can do this on my own”
But I was so
TIRED
Tired of the insurmountable task ahead
But the Friend kept on showing up
Day
After
Day
Carrying three stones
To my meager
One
I couldn’t send the Friend away now
I was,
After all,
Beginning to see
Progress

First
We lay the foundation,
Then base for the first wall
Soon the Friend surprised me
Bringing in others
Through my freshly mortared
Doorway
Each picked up more stones
Even though
I still wanted
To resist their help

Now,
I practically have a fortress
I am no longer
Wafer thin
And blowing

I know
For my starving friend
Her
Rebuilding time
Is
Just
Around the corner

The Friend
Is already
With her
Carrying stones