Little girl
A flower in her hair
She paints a picture
With her hands
And gives it
To her mom
But too late
The world is lost
To her mother
So deep in the bottle
She couldn’t
Claw her way out
If she tried
And
Little girl
Doesn’t even know
Where daddy is
But she hopes
He won’t
come home tonight
Because mom
Lies limp
on the couch
Her shield
Cracked
Right down the middle
Leaving her open
Little girl
Nowhere to go
But no reason
To stay
Too small to reach
The doorknob
And too big
To cry out
And so she ascends
The creaky couch
And wraps her arms
Around shivering mom
Protecting her.