God has a special place for still-born things,

The things that never were and should have been;

The little songs no singer ever sings,

The beauty of a picture hung unseen,

A noble heart that loved with no return,

And deeds well meant which somehow turned out ill,

A lovely flame that vainly tried to burn

But could not last, though all the winds were still,

The early flower that no one ever sees

Making its way through ground iced hard with sleet.

A Caesar to whom no man bends his knees

The Christ-like smile that meets each fresh defeat:

God treats them very tenderly for He

Knows what the pain of stifled things can be.

“A Special Place” from Changing Winds by Dorothy Quick