My life is in this corner.
I have no other place.
It seems I only watch, never at all a real voice.
I see her mother, hurrying to get another fix.
Of course her father is sluggish in his quest for another hit.
And she, my only lover, knows not what she should do.
So she hides with me,
In this corner.

She pulls me tight against her
My ears rubbing against her arms.
Now her mother is calling for her.
We both know just what her mother wants.
A moving target.
A stress reliever.
Someone solid to pound her fits into.
So we hide, in this corner behind the couch.
As her mother moves past we both relax.

Now her father is coming,
And he too wants the same.
The only thing he knows what he’s doing.
It’s a bit of a shame he’s not wasted yet.
A bit of a shame he’s not so drunk he doesn’t care.
This child, my only lover,
Would be better off that way.
We wait for him to pass
And it seems this point never comes.
When finally it does we both let out a breath.

This girl, my only lover, is merely 8 years old.
She does not deserve this family.
Nor do these strangers deserve her.
She works so hard to please them,
Yet she never can.
She takes the hits,
The beatings,
And of course the curses flying.
Her only save haven is this corner behind the couch.

I do know this is where
I’m meant to be.
I’m a little girls reminder there parents once loved her.
I’m a fragile bond, one that may be gone.
I’m only a ratted teddy bear.