Saturday, January 3, 2015

Voice

In November, Renee and I were part of a group that put on a Foster Care summit at a Church here in Lincoln. The leaders asked me to perform a monologue/skit/ dramatic something as part of the event. I thought about what this would be and I ended up writing this poem/piece about foster care from the perspective of an 8 ish year old. I titled it Voice. Enjoy!

Voice
You chose to ride your glass dragon
Filled with a huff and puff
 In a cloud of smoke my life was upended
As if termites; eating at the foundation of
My life everything I know is
Lost and condemned

Days 1-5 are hard to remember
Flashes of emotions; red black and yellow
Like watching a movie, I am living someone else’s life
This isn’t my bed; I can’t get comfortable it’s too soft
Like sleeping inside of a pillow
I can’t find a position where I can breathe

Day 9 - I start to wake from the haze of the last week
The vacation is over and I know that I am not going home
But I got to see you, and I hoped
Maybe you could explain this to me or apologize
Or make it all better like when you would kiss the
Boo-boo on my knee, somehow that magic you shared
Is gone… WHY!!!????

Day 23 and a half - I am being smothered
Like a bug smashed under a tissue or wearing a sweater
In the middle of the hottest summer day or walking a mile
In shoes that are a size too small, they are really nice
But why do they keep looking at me like that
Why would they care about me when you couldn’t?
I need to find a way to grasp onto some control  

Day 41 – finally something makes sense and I have
Found a way to see something predictable
When I claw, bite, and fight I see the
Tears I was so used to seeing between you and dad
Only this time I say when they get to come
And making them appear can be so much
Control … predictable… 

Day 87 –They are still here and you are gone
I am not even sure I want to see you ever again
But it's Thursday; I'll get picked up in the van
I hate it! It is dirty and stained. You can
Smell the tears of the other kids forced to ride it
Some going home; others crying as they are ripped away

Day 103 - They took me to church and for the first time I heard
I was told that I am cared for and loved
By a God who creates and cares for all He makes,
Yet somehow I don’t feel like a masterpiece, that’s not me
I am paint by numbers with colors that don’t match right
Cheap and distorted … trash

Day 188 – This room smells
Oder as thick as the wooden bench and tables
Why are we here, when I see you I am not sure what to feel?
I want to go home, but I remember the hurt
You instilled. Mostly how you just didn’t
Care I was hungry, dirty, and scared… I just want to feel safe

Day 235 – I hate my birthday!
They tried so hard to make it special and it was
I had spaghetti and meatballs and I even got a cake
It was too much attention… then you didn’t show up
All I wanted was to see you these stupid presents
They could have saved their money the cracking
And shattering of the plastic as I twist
Smash and break feels like my heart…where were you!

Day 276 - I am done crying
Done feeling like I have betrayed you
Done feeling like this isn’t my home
My bed is now sunk in in the parts I like
My impression is left in the sheets when I wake up
This is my new normal

Day 365 – Has it been a year?
Memories orbiting back in; of the night when
All gravity ceased to exist
The world got turned upside down and
A supernova explosion left nothing but chaos
And despair….


Day 400 - The church again…this time
Something even more extraordinary:
So he decided long ago to adopt us as his children.
He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done.
 It pleased God to do it.
 All those things bring praise to his glorious grace.
God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves.
 Can he really mean me?

Day 462 – This is over… I am never going home
It not like that is even home anymore
The shot of the gavel ringing out
Cannot even be heard over the
Final piece of my heart that breaks
For what we once were… family
What does this all mean now?

Day 515 or Day 1 – Another gavel shot
This one rings with a different tune
Family has been redefined and renewed
MY MOM quotes
 I prayed for this child.
The Lord has given me what I asked him for.
So now I’m giving him to the Lord.
As long as he lives he’ll be given to the Lord.”
And all of them worshiped the Lord there.

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