The Child Poem by Justin Short

The child cries, yet cannot see
Her mother on the balcony
Just one more dose to take away
The pain, abuse, the disarray

She chose to numb instead of feel
She pays for death instead of meals
Her daughter will grow all alone
In and out of broken homes

She wanted to be just like her
But, in the mirror she’ll scream and curse
She will grow old and never know
Why she was left all alone

Her mother did not want to die
She even clawed to get inside
She gasped and grasped up from the floor
She wanted to give just one more

A kiss upon the daughter’s cheek
Instead a nightmare she would see
The thoughts will plague her fragile mind
She will grow fast but be behind

The curse you pass to your firstborn
The moment you walk to that door
She’ll hear your footsteps walk outside
When the screen shuts she’ll say goodbye

Is this how you want to be known?
There is no love, only pain shown
How dare you show your blood as words
She’ll cry three days before she’s heard

She needed you to hold her hand
To watch her walk, to make her stand
You cannot do those six feet down
Now on her own she roams around

There is no call for this sweet girl
She’s been abandoned to this world
Her mother did not care enough
Then Death showed up and called her bluff

He took her soul into his home
The little girl waits all alone
She finds the path her mother took
But will she write a different book?