OVERCOME

OVERCOME ~ to prevail

 

 

 

 

IN A CRIB PILED WITH BOXES

SHE WAS KEPT FOR YEARS.

HUNCHED OVER LIKE AN ANIMAL

IN A DARKENED ROOM ALONE.

THE BONES ON HER FEET LEFT SCARS IN HER SKIN

FROM THE PRESSURE OF THE CONFINEMENT SHE ENDURED.

LIVING IN HER BODY’S OWN WASTE

SHE CONSUMED IT TO SURVIVE.

NO ONE FED HER, NO ONE TALKED TO HER

NO ONE SANG HER TO SLEEP AT NIGHT.

SHE WAS LEFT THERE LIKE SOME

USELESS PIECE OF GARBAGE, THROWN AWAY.

NEGLECTED, TORTURED, MAIMED FOREVER

THERE IS NO REASON THIS HAD TO BE.

HOW DO YOU GIVE SOMEONE LIFE

AND THEN TAKE IT AWAY LIKE THIS?

BY THE GRACE OF GOD SHE WAS FOUND

AND SOMEONE TOOK HER HOME.

WELL, TO THE HOSPITAL

WHERE SHE LAY IN A BED FOR 3 MONTHS.

FINALLY SHE WAS THEIRS AND NOW THEY LISTEN

TO THE AFTERMATH OF WHAT THIS CHILD BEARED.

SCARS AND ATROHPIED MUSCLES

THAT MAY NEVER FULLY HEAL.

THE CONSTANT FEAR THAT SHE

MAY NEVER EAT AGAIN.

THEY HAVE TO REMIND HER

NOT TO EAT OFF OF THE FLOOR.

THEY TAUGHT HER HOW TO USE A KNIFE AND FORK

AT THE AGE OF 9.

SHE MAY NOT EVER FULLY RECOVER

FROM THE UNSPEAKABLE WAY THAT SHE LIVED.

IN A CAGE IN A ROOM

UNTIL SHE WAS 6 YEARS OLD.

BUT SHE HAS BEEN TAKEN IN

BY PEOPLE WHO WANT ONLY TO LOVE HER.

AND THEY FEAR THE DAY SHE REMEMBERS

WHAT HAPPENED TO HER AND ASKS, “WHY?”

HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER A QUESTION LIKE THAT

TO THE CHILD WHO THINKS THAT THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG?

THERE IS NOTHING, NO REASON, NOTHING YOU COULD SAY

I PRAY THIS CHILD ONE DAY OVERCOMES….

 

 

 

***This poem was written after hearing a local news story of the sentencing of the parents of a girl who was kept, by them, in makeshift cage in their home. She was found at the age of 6 in unspeakable condition. Letters from her adoptive parents were read at the sentencing detailing some of what she faces now. The horror of this is unbelievable to me.***