The Damaged Child
written by: Amina
She cringes – darkness
She braces – the vulture
She tries her utmost, to stay alert, awake
To wade off danger
Slowly the world sleeps
Everything quietens
She too, dozes off
Into oblivion
To be awaken;
the creaking of the door,
the screech of the hinges,
the sound of the latch
She peeks, scared as hell
Scared to even look
To sense the dark shadow
Overbearing, foreboding
She moves as in sleep, to show she is awake
The shadow dashes
With time she relaxes
Succumbs to the overpowering sleep
To be awoken with the creepy feeling
Warning bells in her head
She moans, to be roughly silenced
All the while she has her eyes shut
To wade off the nightmare.
She wiggles her tiny little body
Ever so slowly for fear of retribution
Just a wee more sound – loud enough
enough to raise the sleeping bodies.
The shadow disappears into the darkness
To be repeated night after night
How many – unbeknown to her
At the break of dawn,
the shadow – just a nightmare
A living breathing nightmare
In her gut she knows it is real
In her mind she is not so sure
Many a times bracing to open up
To be shut down within
Speaking out – shunned
Speaking of such darkness
Sins for a girl child
What can she do?
She just braces her tiny heart
Praying silently, calling for a savior,
wishing for the never-ending, terrifying ‘nightmare’,
to STOP.
- The Damaged Child - January 1, 2021
