Love Poem: Charade You Are
Shaunda Lindsay Avatar
Written by: Shaunda Lindsay

Charade You Are

I feel the shadow of fear creeping down the dark hall         
slipping noticed into the room - my eyes squinched tight         
  
But I know that shadow even with my eyes closed don't I         
It's bad intentions made known with the smell of beer         
in my nostrils.         
         
oh god, oh god, oh god         
         
         
Holding still under covers   
praying to a god that's nowhere around         
don't get me, don't get me         
my fear sucks all sound from the room         
  
But not for long           
         
           
I see the shadows of my sister dancing in the dark         
the blue of the night light adds calming colors         
making shadow creatures out of the dancers frenzied movements         
yet doing nothing to mask the whimpered sound   
of dying innocence   
    
         
Just how many times can innocence die?         
         
I lay frozen with fear and self hatred         
I mean why couldn't I just sneak up and  beat my father         
to death with my baton underneath the bed? 
I wish I was brave enough to smash his face bloody        
why can't I?   
  
Cause daddy's stronger than god!!         
         
         
I'm no savior, just a little girl with the world         
and my sister's innocence on my shoulders         
I disgust myself lying frozen          
while the abuse goes on and on   
  
Till a minute seems like hours       
  
I clap my hands over my ears   
pretending this is not my life         
no, no, no, this can't be my life         
         
Please God, just let me die         
         
Waiting until the shadow slips down the hall         
back to hell and my mother -    
who's earned the title of Mama the blind     
and not for nothing either         
  
I disappear into the nothing I've become         
and will spend my entire life perfecting         
wearing my mask of a happy girl   
  
ha ha Charade you are