Night Terror

Long into the blackened night
She lay awake still with fright
With every creak she feels such dread
Will he come tonight and defile her bed
The clock ticks on–a sigh of relief
And slowly she falls into restless sleep.

With a jolt awakened, filled with fear
She feels his hot breath drawing near
Her teeth clinched, her eyes shut tight
She knows it does no good to fight
Her heart cries out to God in pain
“Oh Lord, I can’t go through this again!”

Her daddy takes her in his arms
Says, “Honey, you know I mean no harm.”
He rips her apart and lets out a moan
Then throws her down, leaving her all alone
Alone with her tears, her anger, her shame
Oh, what did she do to deserve such pain.

A new day dawns–with new hope she prays
That tonight God would keep her daddy away
She cleans the house, she tries to be good
She loves him so much, if she just understood
But then, too soon, the day comes to an end
And she knows when night falls, he’ll do it again.

by Annie

Copyright: Annie: 1990-1998: All rights reserved

***This poem was written after listening to a friend’s memory of her abuse. I was so upset by what she had been through that I went home and wrote this.