"The Wind Howls At Midnight"

a poem of regret and redemption

THE WIND HOWLS AT MIDNIGHT

Somewhere in a quiet room

The wind howls at midnight

Safe in her bed, she lies and remembers

The crying and begging, of a small child’s fright.

The howling winds turn into screams

From the little girl who lived next door.

After all these years, somehow it seems

She’ll hear those screams forever more.

As the wind howls at midnight

She feels a painful sorrow.

She’d always wanted to help somehow

But always put it off ‘til - ‘tomorrow’.

As she listens to the screaming wind

From the safety of her bed.

Her choice to simply do nothing

Fills her with regretful dread.

As the wind howls at midnight

She only hears it scream

And she hears only painful cries.

Sometimes she wonders if God can hear

Through dark and cloudy skies.

If He can hear her sadness and her sorrow

That fills her with such dread.

While she lies so very safely now.

Yet so very wretchedly in her  bed.

As the wind howls at midnight

Somewhere in a darkened room

There’s a child now grown.

The scars are only in her heart

Only present when she feels alone.

She remembers the pain

and the screams, the fear;

Of neighbors who did nothing

 yet knowing they were so near.

She listens to the howling winds,

She hears it’s strength and power.

She also now knows that God is here,

In this dark and windy hour.

As the wind howls at midnight

For one there’s comfort in the howling wind

There’s a Presence that holds her near.

The terror is gone, replaced by love

By the God who finds her dear.

But for another there’s a deep dark ache 

She never chose forgiveness.

She simply wants to hear the wind

And not the screams she witnessed.

It’s only the wind

It’s only the wind,

Why can’t she ever hear,

Just the howling midnight wind.

Reviews

[David Marsden]

This stirs several emotions, from sadness for the child, if only she had done something to help her instead of turning a blind eye, this would torment anyone with a conscience. She is now the subject of suffering herself. A feeling of hoplesness comes across as the girl is left to suffer. Anger is felt because she didn't help an innocent child, yet sorrow because they both suffered in the end.
The poem tells the story clearly and in easy to understand style with a very powerful message.