Serena Malcolm

I still remember the day we met,
You were this tiny, perfect child,
And though you couldn’t focus yet,
I know you saw I was beguiled.

You quickly learned to hold my hand,
And just as quickly refused to let go,
You held it as you took your first stand,
As you toddled to and fro.

Sometimes you’d fall down with me,
And the tears would surely come,
But that’s why I was there, you see,
To catch each and every one.

I’ve lost track of all the ghosts I’ve fought,
Of the bad dreams that I have soothed,
I do not like to boast of course,
For that would be uncouth.

At every sleepover, every holiday,
Every night in an unknown place,
I could always keep the fear at bay
with just a comforting embrace.

I lost you once, do you recall?
I remember it all too well,
Before I found you I was so distraught,
But I bet you couldn’t tell.

And then, one day, you just lost interest,
Like you no longer liked to play,
I was so overwhelmingly depressed,
But I didn’t like to say.

I wondered though, so hard and long,
What changed – what ever could?
And what it was that I did wrong,
But, of course, it did no good.

So when I saw the cardboard box,
I didn’t bother to protest,
And when the attic hatch was locked,
I kept my agony suppressed.

I don’t know how long I lived there,
Weeping softly in the dark,
Not accepting that you no longer cared,
That you no longer had a heart.

By the time I saw the crack of light,
My mind was deeply frayed,
For when I saw your grown-up face,
I thought some trick was being played.

But then a fresh-faced little child
– who looked a lot like you –
appeared beside you; timid, mild,
And that is when I knew
I had a second chance to ward off fear,
To love, to make things better,
To wipe another million tears,
To share my raison d’être.

 

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to write a persona poem; a poem in the voice of someone else. I chose the voice of an old teddy bear, not unlike the one that I had when I was younger, that my daughter now sleeps with. Hope you enjoy it.