The Breadcrumb Trail Nina Kiriki Hoffman ©1997 Only breadcrumbs mark the trail— Breadcrumbs, which the waiting birds Like as much as anything. When stones led the way home, stones lay undisturbed. While stones are valued only by themselves and children. Breadcrumbs invite all the world to eat. When all we have in our pockets is bread, And we are led into the woods to die, Our only hope of salvation is to follow our own trail home. All we have is breadcrumbs to mark our trail And night is coming. We enter the dark forest of the mind Led by the only person that we trust Who leaves us Leaves us here with shadows And witches And dangerous sweets. We have spent our last bits of home to mark our trail. Spent, and brought birds who fly away. Nothing is safe here. Every shadow hides a tooth. The sky is dark. The ground is damp. The trees are too tall to climb. We scuff up leaves And hide beneath them Hoping for warmth from this place of fear. In the morning our crumbs are gone. The tale would lead us deeper into the forest To the house of the witch Who waits for unwary orphans Who offers us food in order to feed Who offers us shelter in order to cage Who teaches us to fear the forest And everything in it. But we have slept deep and we have dreamed earth. Last night we left a trail of bread, Brought birds who flew away And left behind Little star-shaped footprints Little four-toed presses Into earth. Earth can tell us where we walked yesterday For we have left footprints too Where our prints and the birds’ lie There is the path we need If we are careful and watchful. There is the path we can follow, Though it no longer leads to home and safety For at the other end are the ones who left us here. Still, the trail takes us back to where we started So we can pick our own path next time.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 18:51:41 +0000
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