A little girl

A little girl sitting on the steps
Her big blue eyes flooded with tears
Yet only a single tear running down her cheek

Precious little girl sitting, wondering
Is this what life is meant to be?
The pain outside, inside, everywhere

Words of injury flowing over her
Worthless, stupid, unlovable
Waste of oxygen

The pain of several blows across her body
The welts rising over her pale white skin
The burning of a belt being slammed down again and again

The screaming and shouting
The daily rejection
Will it ever end?

Will I ever be love?
Will anyone ever see me
See me as good enough?

Four and twenty years later
Still she sits in her shelter
Her shelter of self-protection

Self-preservation of ill health
Survival of self-mutilation
Destroying what is left

A little girl aged twenty-nine
Sitting on a step
One single tear flowing down her cheek