I wish I could fly
To be free
And run away from my life
But I know what’s reality
And flying is not in it
But I wish I could
If only for a short while
I sit in school
With long sleeves on
To cover bruises
Scars and burns
From irons and knives
And bats and fists
From the house I live in
But will never be my home
And I sit and write
And read and study
Stay after the bell
I help clean the rooms
But finally I have to head home
Mother yells at me for being late
Father’s drunk and tries to hit me
Beer causes more pain than it takes it away
Sometimes I duck and escape their grasps
But they always catch me
Wincing as they punch me
In places covered by clothes so no one will see
But tonight they throw me down the stairs
And a black eye follows me to bed
When teachers ask I say I’m clumsy
But how clumsy can a 9-year-old really be?
I’m tired of my life
This world hasn’t been kind
And I walk home solemnly awaiting what I know will come
The routine of my day to day life
Mother grabs my hair and yanks hard
While father goes to his room to get the bat
I try to fight back this time and push her
But mother is stronger and bigger
She pushes me back with such a force that I fall back
And my head slams against the floor
And I don’t feel pain
Which should scare me
But it doesn’t
And then I can see myself lying on the floor
With blood coming out from my head
Covering the white-tiled linoleum
And there is my mother
Who covers her mouth with her hand
And screams for my father who comes running
He holds her and they stand there looking down at me
And I wonder if they feel sad
Because I don’t
Then I am floating away
And I smile
Because now I can fly