The Child In Me Poem by Charlotte Ballard

The child in me
Wonders if I’ll
Keep my promise
Given to her, through
Tears and heavy words
Crushing my heart.
Today it isn’t raining,
Do we go to the park?
Do we talk about the
Blues and the dreams
And of blankets pushed
Down in the middle of
An afternoon?
Will I let her come out?
Will I breathe her pain
Out? Easing the grief
That her childhood
Will never end, her
Blankets never pulled up,
Tucked under a chin –
By a loving parent
Even by my twin?
I forgave to forget
So I forgot what it
Was that I forgot
And in the middle of it
A promise of wholeness
And never having to
Listen to the steps
Creaking as he comes up.

Child, dear child,
Come out from your
Hiding– that was
Only a nightmare
Brought on by too
Many lemonade sundaes
And the missing
Of your mother’s heart.