Will Somebody Pleas Take Me? Poem by Daleen Enslinstrydom

She sits on the porch
early in the morning
just as the sun breaks through some clouds
after a stormy night
and her thoughts wander off
to what people are saying about her.

You are far too old to still be adopted.
People do like babies
as they are cuddly and cute.

There are so many clouds in her heart
and the children at the orphanage say:
“you are far too pale and to ordinary
and there is nothing special about you.

It’s almost as if it rains in her heart
and there is a deep longing to belong to somebody
and her hazel eyes are now flooding.
She tangles her hands around herself
as if in an embrace.

“I will be good
and will always remember to say thank you.
I will be polite
and will always leave a seat for older people on the bus
and I will ask to be excused,
and I will go to school and do my homework.
Please, won’t somebody just take me.”