Anne Frank Confides In Her Imaginary Friend Kitty Poem by Dennis Ryan

Sunday afternoon, August 21,2016; revised Friday morning,
November 18 at 7: 48 a.m.

"Entering the A version of the diary, we enter an illuminated world... In creating Kitty, Anne creates a resonance that encourages and allows her to open herself completely."
- Carol Gilligan, The Birth of Pleasure

I am alone, so desperately alone;
I hide myself within myself
to protect myself—yet I love,
I love Petel as my diary attests,
yet am forcedto edit myself out
of it until what I write feels forced,
not like me at all—stilted, embellished,
unnatural— not in my voice. Kitty,
my confidant, you understand me,
you the only one to whom I can confide
my true feelings.I look gorgeous,
just gorgeous today, don't I? Like I do
in the photograph pasted into the inside
front cover—my smile, my dimples,
my eyebrows dark, my eyes so bright!
I can't wait for this horrible time to end,
to come out of hiding with my family
when this awful war ends. I want so
to return to myself, to a normallife.