POEM: Bringing Dee home

Imagine for a moment you are many years less,

Let go of any present mess.

Erase the memories of recent,

And picture yourself pure and innocent.

It is quite easy when you try,

Breathe deep and let your mind unwind.

Your heart poured out love with no fear,

Your arms opened wide to hold loved ones near.

Toys abounded in your room so warm and bright,

When night came, a mother’s touch held you tight.

Your drawings surrounded you and covered the walls,

You drew you and your momma, on each one, way up tall.

Remember the days when you didn’t worry,

When family and love were never a query?

Can you imagine being taken from your mother’s embrace?

Away from a happy home, love, and your mother’s face?

Being told your present life was no more,

You had a different family now, just open the door.

Can you see it? See the new unfamiliar faces?

Do they know you or your favorite hiding places?

Your momma sits with hands holding her head,

Crying, sobbing, and staring at your empty bed.

Why? Why was this done to you, oh so innocent one?

Living with strangers when you should be having fun.

No answers can comfort or fill the empty space in your heart,

You are told your days will no longer be with your momma, but spent apart.

Can you breathe? Do you feel your heart breaking yet?

You should, as it’s happened, you didn’t know I bet.

A family of two was broken in half,

Dee was a baby when she crossed Andrea’s path.

Never knowing her ‘blood’ mother or father,

Andrea became both, enjoying every minute as if there were no other.

A once self-assured, active, curious and funny child,

Dee is now guarded, unsure, and hesitant; these changes are not mild.

The Department of Health and Welfare has failed this girl,

A once sweet, thoughtful and happy child; as pure as a pearl.

Dee’s beautiful and rich heritage played a part,

Her Native American Indian roots a box checked on a chart.

Andrea was willing to teach her her ancestry every day,

And she was loved, celebrated, cared for; yet she’s the one who has to pay.

Help bring Dee home, to the only home she knows.

One where her old toys, clothes and hanging artwork flows.

Before it’s too late and those happy days are a blur,

Bring Dee back to those who best know her.

CHANELLE BLIGH

Hayden