Tis the night
Trigger warning — mentions of abuse
Tis the night before Christmas
The world slows to a halt
Sounds disappear
And the striking of midnight ceased
All children sleeping by 8
Not but one
A child’s cry
In distant skies
Tears fall upon ice-bitten ground
As she wanders
She waits
Stumbling upon
Words and stutters and fear
The raising of a fist, or
A slap across her face
Forcing her into darkness
Tis the night before Christmas
A time for rejoicing
I look deeply into the eyes of a child
Who does not smile
Why does she not smile?
This is a child lost
Lost in a cycle of terror
Striving to find her place
She spends a life-time fighting
Before her life ends…she fights
I chose to write something that many people struggle with, Christmas! I struggle through the month of December, as many others do because it holds so much fear and truth! My abuse finally came to a halt on the last day of December 26 years ago, though the struggles are still there and the struggle is real!!
© D.Reay2022
