The Sound Of A Dove

Perched on a branch of a fruit tree
In my garden, outside my window
Its soft cooing soothes and pacifies
It is, after all the universal
Symbol of Peace, is it not?

Inner conflict, personal anguish
Uncertainty and doubt
When it besets, troubles and
Fatigues coping abilities
Leaving an aura of defeat;

Can that symbol assuage
That turmoil of the mind
Nudge the chaotic sense of defeat
Toward acceptance and solution?
Can I ever be a dove

Whose purpose it is to
Persuade the inner mind of a loved one
Toward peace and tranquility
Leaving far behind the purposelessness
Of self-defeating regret and anger?

What has been done is done
And we move on to meet what
Life offers; one fork on the way to
The future or the other
Attempting the while to solve
Interior doubts and miseries of the mind.

Would that I could be as a dove to you
And comfortingly ease your soul of torment.
Somehow placating the ravenous beast within.
I struggle with the attempt, do my best
Ultimately accept the quivering lash
Of your unappeasable fury.

Child of mine, hear me out!

c. 2009 Rita Rosenfeld