What If? Poem by Lynn Anne Brown

To my fellow Elves
You'll know who you are
Because you smiled to yourselves
When I recognized
You inside myself
And myself inside of you
In our recognition
Of our own
Magical
Beginnings

That we imagined
Ourselves into being
The moment we said
What if?

And as with many 'What if's? '
The knowledge of that magic
Was often born in time of greatest need
We'd learn to get along or to destroy ourselves
Until we began to see
The me inside of you
And the you inside of me
And the amazing we
That comes
When we play nice together

And for me me
What if?
A leaning toward the creative
And a desire to help
And yes to be helped
Has been the guiding Light
Of a journey
That has
Taken, well
Let's see now
I started this when I was Seven
Nearly Fifty years
That began with
A Question?
To Goddess wearing other clothes
Who helped in a time of withering need
If there was anything I could do for her
And knowing I had already began
Leaning toward the healing arts
I wanted to be a nurse
When I grew up
To tend to the wounded
To help folk heal or pass
According to their need
To ease the suffering, to mute the pain

Most Elves
If not all
Are Empaths
We feel our way
Through life
And when we feel pain
We want to make it go away
To see if we can help
To make things better
To come up
With a solution

Now left to own devices
This can get quite interesting
Though maybe sometimes not worthy
of a Re-run
Though interesting stories
And fair warnings get wrapped up
In those tales
Do you remember the time that...?
Yeah, won't do that again...
When said discreetly
Near someone
Contemplating
Nearly
The same thing
It you've ever
Watched an Elven
Parent
Tell of
The time they
Almost Drowned
Because they didn't listen
When someone said
Don't go out beyond the markers
You'll get my drift
And if you've done it for yourself
You'll know that it's a clever way
To give advice
Without resorting to giving orders
Though when it comes to safety
We're not adverse

Telling me
To stop right now
Before bomb goes off
Explanations Later
Is fine with me
If I trust
The one who's speaking
Because well...
Sometimes
I just miss things
And so I appreciate
The Help

Though
In a world
That makes
The small seem smaller
And the Large seem monstrous
We're often overwhelmed
by Folk
Who want to keep us prisoner
Look at how folk think they can
Treat the Leprechaun
Hold him hostage
Until he gives them
His pot of Gold

And they wonder
Why sometimes we're unfriendly
Well sorry folk, despite the common delusion
The desire to help does not translate
Into the desire to be a slave
And no we're not inferior
Just because...

Just because, some one is looking
for an excuse...

Because it doesn't matter
The colour of our skin, or hair, or eyes
How tall or short we are
Muscled or Frail
Who we choose to Love
Or how we choose to do it
Who and if we worship
And how we go about it
Except by consideration
Of the first Law
Of Healing

To do no Harm
Which in it's inverse
Also means to accept no Harm
To not allow it's presence in our lives

And that is when the warrior steps in...
And one thing that I've discovered
Is that she's as fierce as my elf is gentle
And it's something I'm learning to appreciate.