Papa left me and Mama
in a dark cave, alone. He’s coming back, though.
Mama said that Papa wishes to marry another woman, since
she denied his faith. He’s going to marry the woman Mama
once was. That’s what she says,
but
I know Papa is coming back for me. He loves me.
My baby sister rests in my sleeping Mama’s hands.
Mama’s been asleep for days. Her chest does not move
like it used to. I think she is gone,
but
I don’t like to think about it. Instead, I think
of the day when my Papa will come.
The day he left us here, he threw at Mama a book.
It was the book I had seen her read when he wasn’t at home.
At night, sometimes, she would leave with her secret friends with the
Book.
I don’t understand why Papa hates Mama. A Book? Maybe it’s bad.
My baby sister creaks, weeping. She’s awake, and I’m not her
Mama. What can I do?
I reach for her,
but
a white human appears in front of me.
No longer is the dust in the air stomping down on me.
No longer do I fear.
No longer do I feel a need to be found and loved.
No longer am I Papa’s girl.
The white human looks like an angel.
Mama told me about them.
The angel touches my Mama, and I see
her breath
come back to her.
Her chest is no longer is dead.
She starts to nurse the baby,
but,
once the angel is gone, he takes my Mama.
I scream, trying to grab my Mama from him.
He says that He’ll be back tomorrow, and that He
will give me light in the darkness.
Day in and day out, the angel appears.
He talks to me, while Mama
feeds my sister.
He tells me that I’ll be saved, and that
my story is
special. And
that it will make people believe in
Someone higher.
He told me that no longer will I have to
fear,
be hungry,
or cry.
For He is here
for longer and forever.
