Annie Christensen Poet Free verse

Why Can't I Leave

Scared of my
Not real
Mommy and
Daddy

I hide
In my room
In the dark
I’m Scared

I don’t think they know
I know they aren’t beautiful
At least on the inside
I hope they think I still love them

I slowly get up
I am hungry
I want a snack
Even if I have to see them

I twist the doorknob
Scrunching my forehead
Hoping they are gone
But the door won’t open

Why can’t I leave?
Why Can’t I Leave?
WHY CAN’T I LEAVE?
I don’t want to be alone

But I’m not
My closet has opened
All by itself
Like its trying to show me something

I slowly peer in
Scared for what
I might see
But it’s not scary

It’s my dolly
From a long time ago
So long
I forgot her name

It’s a good thing
She has her nametag
Looking at her scribbled name
I try to sound the word out

Mmm-
Al-
Ice
I think her name is

Mal. Ice
The snow princess
Well now she is my friend
My only friend

At night
Sometimes
Mal will talk to me
She says weird stuff

I know what happened
To your Mommy and
Daddy
Why they disappeared

When she tells me this
It makes me want to stay in here forever
Just me and her
Me and Mal. Ice

Mal. Ice says
She knows how to
Get out of the room
The room I hate

So we try

And it works
I don’t see
Fake Mommy
Or Fake Daddy

Just me
Alone
With
Mal. Ice

After many
Days of talking
And talking
To Mal. Ice

I don’t know
Why she
Suddenly
Does something scary

She turns to me
And she whispers
I know what happened
Because I did it

I run back to my room
The door won’t lock anymore
It won’t lock
WHY WON’T IT LOCK?

I don’t care
My only friend
Isn’t my friend
I’m Alone

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Alison A Smith September 20, 2026 at 1:59 AM A deeply unsettling installment, using a child’s plain, fragmented voice to make every discovery feel immediate and frightening. The recurring questions and isolated lines powerfully convey panic and loneliness, while the reveal in “Mal. Ice” gives the poem an eerie, memorable centre. The ending leaves the speaker’s terror and abandonment starkly exposed.