by J.T. Livingston

Created on: April 09, 2009

A GROWN CHILD'S PAIN

The little girl sat alone in the hallway

While her Daddy checked her out of school;

She fought to hold back the oncoming tears

For fear she would be made a fool.

Once a week, regular like clock-work, for sure

Her Daddy would caress her legs and smooth her hair;

While her tiny lungs burst inside her beating chest

She knew there would be no one at home who cared.

Her mama was long gone, for reasons all her own

While, with no choice, she and her siblings remained behind;

How she longed for escape, for someone to whom she could tell

About the nightmare now etched permanently in her mind.

No one would believe her, a mere child, if she told the truth

About what happened at home when alone with her Dad;

So many times she had wished him dead or to at least move on

But those thoughts about him would also make her sad.

The years went by and no one ever suspected anything

About the dark hours she endured at the hands of a man she adored;

He eventually died but, still, she told neither friend nor foe

Instead she allowed drugs and alcohol to bring her to the floor.

The day finally came when she confessed the truth

About the man who did such hurtful things to the child he sired;

However, by then, too much damage had been done

For her heart and soul had surely been short-wired.

Now her days are spent reliving the past and wondering why

It has taken so long for the truth to finally set her free;

Or will she ever really be free, will her heart ever mend

And allow itself to forgive the man buried beneath that tree?

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