Lost frightened
A crowd around her
Some just curious others supportive
Two anxious eyes searching for safety
I don’t know how I found myself among them
Asking her in a calm voice hiding a beating heart
Are you lost?
In a terrified voice, she answered
Yes, yes, yes
I took her hand… She surrendered to me
In my miserable attempts to calm her
We walk together towards the unknown
Voices calling me saying the police are the solution
I nod my head
My hand will not leave hers until she finds her family
What is your name, little one?
Angel
Who are you here with?
My mother and my aunts
We walk and walk and she forgets for a while
Then she remembers and goes back to the screaming
Mom, I want mom
I understand beautiful, we will find her
We are only meters away from the police
I don’t want to leave her alone
*****
I did not reach my fourth spring when I got lost in the middle of the legs
I was holding my mother’s gown
To find myself alone
The police station was my shelter
The search journey took hours
They thought they found me, but no way
That day I wore a mask of courage in the midst of a world of strangers
******
She left my hand towards a forty-year-old woman
Her relatives gathered around me between the questioner and the thankful
My eyes see no other
Are you happy…she answered yes
I want a goodbye kiss
Blush cheek kiss
*****
While holding her hand, she was the one who held mine
That day, she brought me back home after a decades-long wandering journey
