![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixf08WIup7J_Qlfpt7-e6tmQewvb_EP42Vpcyx1fqrnyiOjVPcJMv2HoCvGX4p7hY8aLJDV8pVbjErsvXZOpu_5xcS06ZyKb5X6fMjPhO9xHKpri314Z6VW9pcClycuH2MuzI7MDqRGQ/s400/1Gate+of+silence.jpg)
In the secret garden
hidden behind this gate,
you are still known for gentleness and love.
The colors there are softer,
the accents more refined,
and I so long to visit there --
but this gate's been stuck for decades;
I can only peer through the words
and wish I were a child again,
walking hand in hand with you,
in that time before I came to know
the difference --
or perhaps it was indifference --
between the man I thought you were
and who he came to be...
I wish I could say "Vive la Difference!"
but we both know it's nothing
I will ever want to celebrate,
and so I skip that first line
every time I say the prayer.
This poem was written both for the
One Word at a Time Blog Carnival (this month's word is Gentleness) and for the
Carry on Tuesday prompt, which, this week, was "Vive La Difference!"
* * *