Just One Word

do not forget

Do not forget when you were down and out,
and just one word changed everything.

Can you remember not just word,
but also tone of voice,

speaking to your heart
when you believed 
your heart was empty,
barely able to beat?

Family, friend, stranger?
Not stranger once
the word is spoken,
no such thing as stranger.

Cold cloud of illusory
separation we drift in,
never imagining
what we are about to hear,

word echoing in chambers
of the heart, like
an embrace by
a long-lost friend.

So many of us,
forlorn souls waiting
for a special word
that only you can say.

Do not forget when you were down and out,
and just one word changed everything.

~ Wry Welwood
19th of July 2022

Inspired by a poem written by Suma Narayan of Coffee Times, on Medium.