Sing Poem by Annajoy Thompson

There was born into this world
A little girl with a dream
Her eyes shone with innocence
Her face alight with glee

She spoke with many hopes
About the world in which she knew
Of all the things that she could see
And all that she could do

She drew pictures of the mountains
In a world so far away
She told stories of adventures
And she lived them as she’d play

She would reach up for the skies
With her head lost in the clouds
And a song deep in her heart
That she loved to sing out

But soon the world she thought she knew
Hit her like a storm
All her childhood hopes and dreams
Soon became no more

She tried to sing her song
But she kept falling out of tune
As all the plans she made for life
Kept on falling through

The girl became a woman
As she faced her life alone
Wanting just to be secure
Wanting somewhere to call home

She struggled through the darkness
And whistled as she fought
To keep away the demons
And to keep her strength of heart

But the rent is due tomorrow
And she hasn’t any cash
So she does what she feels she must
To pay the landlord back

She feels dirty she feels lost
But she’s not out on the street
Was it really wrong
If it let her afford to eat

She does what she must do
In order to survive
She stops fighting back the demons
She buys into her own lies

She’s lost all her control
And freedom to decide
She’s been crushed by all the pain
She can’t continue with this life

With a gun up to her head
And no song left in her heart
She feels she has no choice
Her life just fell apart

But as she goes to pull the trigger
And at last be free of pain
She feels a chord inside her stir
A finds a tune that has remained

It says you have a voice
You have a song that must be heard
You have a story you must share
With every boy and every girl

You are stronger than the pain
That you feel in this world
And you are loved beyond all measure
You are priceless in your worth

So she stands up to her feet
And dries the tears left in her eyes
She looks in the mirror
And says “there’s still hope for my life”

For somewhere out there
There’s a woman just like me
With a gun against her head
Wanting simply to be free


She silenced all the demons
And she silenced all the doubt
When at last she opened up her heart
And let her song ring out

She song all of her struggles
And she sang of all her pain
And then she sang of all her dreams
And of the strength she had regained

She refused to be silenced
She refused to live in fear
She sang her song and shared her voice
For all the world to hear

From the single tune she carried
Soon a thousand voiced rang
And the numbers kept on growing
As each found their hope again

From a little girl
Who was born with a dream
Now a hundred thousand
Redeemed voices sing