LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF A CHILD. By Cindy Pike Dunning

LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF A CHILD
Teddy, I've been bad again
My mommy told me so;
I'm not quite sure what I did wrong
But I thought you might know.

When I woke this morning
I knew that she was mad
Cause she was crying awful hard,
And yelling at my dad.

I tried my best to be real good
And do just what she said
I cleaned my room all by myself,
I even made my bed.

But I spilled milk on my good shirt,
When she yelled at me to hurry
And I guess she didn't hear me,
When I told her I was sorry

Cause she hit me awful hard, you see,
And called me funny names;
And told me I was really bad
And I should be ashamed.

When I said "I love you Mommy",
I guess she didn't understand;
Cause she yelled at me to shut my mouth,
Or I'd get smacked again

So, I came up here to talk to you
Please tell me what to do
Cause I really love my mommy,
And I know she loves me, too

And I don't think my mommy means,
To hit quite so hard;
I guess sometimes, grown ups forget
How big they really are

So Teddy, I wish you were real
And you weren't just a bear
Then you could help me find a way
To tell mommies everywhere

To please try to understand
How sad it makes us feel;
Cause the outside pain soon goes a way,
But the inside never heals

And if we could make them listen,
Maybe the'd understand;
So other children just like me
Wouldn't have to hurt again

But, for now, I guess I'll hold you tight,
And pretend the pain's not there.
I know you'd never hurt me,
So goodnight, Teddy Bear...

By Cindy Pike Dunning


I thought that this poem was really touching. It gives you an idea of how an abused child feels from their point of view. All they want is to be loved and cared for, and children don't understand any of what's going on in these situations. The poem says how the outside pain heals but the inside pain never does. This is really true and I know because I have younger siblings that were adopted into my family. I know that the abuse that they went through changed their lives forever; the scars will never really go away.