THERE IS LIGHT

A GIRL IN LONDON IN 1950S AND HER ROWING FAMILY AND POSSIBLE FALLOUT ON HER.

There is light
Ingrid sees
through curtains

of her room
as she lays
in her bed

she hears rows
raised voices
her father

bellowing
her brother
answering

her mother
crying out
Ingrid bites

at her lip
what's up now?
She wonders

sitting up
anxiously
her brother

shouting back
her father
barking words

she gets up
out of bed
listens out

at the door
of her room
don't go Tom

please don't go
her mother
pleads loudly

to her son
a door slams
then silence

whimpering
is then heard
her mother

in the hall
her father
swearing loud

which echo
in Ingrid's
ears and mind

she creeps back
to her bed
snuggles down

like a mole
under brown
thick blankets

hopes to God
her father
won't come in

taking it out
on young she
his daughter

but she knows
usually
that he does

she just waits
laying there
in her bed

for the harsh
bitter hurtful
bee-like buzz.

Reviews

[Kelly Scheppers]

I hung on your every word, hoping it wouldn't reveal what was looming in the back of my mind. It's hard for a child to fight that fear that freezes us, that we find a sense of calm under the thickness of blankets, that somehow dissipates the slow motion of time.

[Terry Collett]

Thank you for reading & commenting, Kelly. I was fortunate to have had a safe and loving childhood, but I mixed with those who did not.