Can I hold you tightly, until you fall asleep?
You are so tired, so tiny and so very weak.
I know this time is hard for you, having to trust in me and what I do.
I promise I will keep you safe, and I will take care of you.
You sit in the backseat, head wrapped in gauze, a foil balloon floating beside you it’s this picture in the mirror, one where I pause.
Your mammy and daddy disappear, you’re afraid, feel alone and you just want them near.
You think they never meant to hurt you,
you try so hard to believe that they just forgot about you, when they got up and chose to leave
The emptiness in your belly, hunger has always just been there,
The crumbs, the dirt and little things have always been in your hair
You learned so young that love can hurt …
So much you no longer cry.
The people that surround you now, worry that with your parents you might die.
At first it will seem so strange and unclear
To be held with love and care.
A tiny little child like you should never live in fear .
I hope you get a chance in life ,to live and be a baby.
To play to heal and love and breathe
And grow into a lady
Sometimes growing up within the state is the last resort to save ye,
Deirdre McCarthy 2013
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