Don't think of me as old and gray
For all I wear within me yet
Each battered board
To creak the more
Echo how my days are spent



I sheltered more earth's little ones
Than you may count or see
Warm are the winds
Blown in my beams
That cry incessantly



Of daily need for milking cows
Small bleating lambs and nesting birds
Abandoned young
To breathe again
Of the most tender birth



The gentle hearts that call my name
Old barn, but still to never know
I was their friend
Until days end
A home to call their very own



They swung from me and climbed my frame
Tossed in the hay to leap and play
Though wind might scream
Of hail and sleet
My strong doors kept all fear at bay



Though you may feel so weary now
Upstaged and worn out from the fray
Just smile inside
For all you hide
Is yours to keep for all your days



Soft Whispers for you from
Derry's Heart Poems © 2006



Everybody sees how you seem; only some know who you are.