every day

every day

she sat in her room

almost all alone

just herself

God,

a Muse

and memories

and it was enough

she was not playing house

but playing home

wishing for warm things

the way they use to be

she dressed the dolls

with smiles and love

using big brother’s red Magic Markers

to draw hearts on their faces

and any spaces she could find

God smiled too

i could tell you

there was no sunshine in her life

but that would be a lie

for she vied for it each day

when the rains of anguish

did not chase her inside

within herself

but she knew God was there

waiting for her

for He must have been lonely too

when she did go out to play

she did so with an unbridled passion

for she played to forget

the beatings

her Mother endured

from a man

who acted not like her Father

though he was

so long ago

he has been this way

every since he lost his job

and now they had to rob

Peter to pay Paul

when they could find him

and there were the voices inside

that was always waiting for her

in her special hiding place

the place she went

when she did not wish to face

the harshness of the possibilities

that the realities

she now endured

would last forever

what ever . . .

Mommy spent much time alone as well

locked in her room

she never smiled any more

like she used to

when they were a real family

but she, this little girl

found happiness

in those secret places

her own world

where she could dream

as she wished

about whatever she wanted

though she was haunted

by these dreams

that seemed

like they would never come back home

and this is why

she spent so much time in her room

where she could paint the walls with happiness

instead of the gloom

that living was giving to her

every day

(c) 2 January 2011 : William S. Peters, Sr.