An Ordinary Girl

It doesn’t take much:

rustling bed covers

a whiff of Old Spice

menacing tattoos,

and I travel

backwards in time,

heart clinched with fear

my hands suddenly small and helpless,

nothing but gulping gasps

where my breath should be.

Your hair oil

Your manicured nails

Your bristly crew cut

Your fevered breath.

My writhing shame

My mangled dreams

My nightly fear

My scabbed up knees

and gangly legs

unwillingly intertwined with yours.

It doesn’t take much

and I am there,

listening to a gaggle of kids

playing on the street I know by heart,

counting the moments

until you release me

and I rejoin them,

not missing a beat

as my trembling legs

propel me over the jump-rope:

just an ordinary little girl

playing innocent games,

once more.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2012

Poem

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Henderson Avatar
July 25, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Debbie I just went through and read all your poems again. My prayers go out to you this night. May God grant you peace and the blessing of brighter days. You are more than ordinary, you are strong brave and courageous. Get it all out and let the evil die.
Rhodes Avatar
July 25, 2012 at 10:39 PM
Thanks so much for the kind words, Steven. I'm working out all the evil through my writings, and it helps.
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