The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2003, Síða 37

Vol. 58 #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
35
Poetry
Shadows Dance On The Wall
I lie awake, watching shadows dance on the wall,
I hear his voice, his footsteps echo down the hall.
He wasn't always like this; he used to be my friend,
He used to really love me; then the violence began.
He would read me bedtime stories, with a twinkle in his eye,
Now he's gone out drinking while mommy sits and cries.
I didn't even know, what it was I did wrong,
Now the days' are painful and nights' are very long.
The bruises lighten, and cuts fade away,
But the words replay in my mind, day after day.
After he would hurt me, mom would pull me close
And say that when he hits me is when he loves me most
I didn't know what to do, I never asked why,
I assumed I was the bad one and I deserved to die
But finally I realized that I wasn't the one to blame,
He's the one that had to change, I could stay the same.
Now I'm 34 and I have my own kids,
I love them very much, and would never do what my father did.
I can hear them breathing from all the way down the hall,
But still I lie awake, watching shadows dance on the walls.
-Jenna Boholij