Ophelia Poem by Lee Ann Schaffer

I saw a little girl once, standing in the rain.
Her dress was streaked with water,
Her face was streaked with pain.

She made no attempt to move away to find a drier spot,
But stood so still, it touched my heart;
I wondered what she thought.

Her pretty dress began to sag from the water that it held,
But her feet stayed firmly planted;
No words her tongue would tell.

Although her body kept so still, with her face she tried to smile,
But the pain put up such a fight,
It seemed to take a while.

Her fingers must have wrinkled, standing there so long.
She made me understand that day
What it meant to be strong.

A child not fit to bear such a load, in water or in pain,
Had taken time to stop and give
Her gift there in the rain.