Hero Child

 
Home
Biography Barbara Rogers
Foreword: A Hero Child
Chapter 1
Table of Contents
Send a Comment
 
   

 

Lies

she says—I mean well—and
beats
her child

her eyes speak a different language—of hate and bitterness
misery and pain—despair and revenge

the mother says—I mean well
but pain penetrates the body of the girl—then the soul
she cries out

I mean well—her mother repeats
the girl screams—then why are you hurting me?
I love you

you don't do what is my will—replies the mother
this is why I have to beat you

the girl cries—I cannot always do what is your will
sometimes I have to go my own way
I have a will, too
I have my own thoughts

the mother beats her daughter more forcefully, even harder
she screams—I cannot bear that you have your own thoughts
and you may not have a will of your own

you are a bad, evil, sinful girl if you have a will of your own
I will beat you until you admit that you are bad
until you admit that I am right

don't cry! don't scream! pull yourself together!
bear the pain! be quiet! once and for all!
you may only be the way I want you to be!

here—I rule!
here—my word is the law!
here—my power and my will are the law!

you
were bad
you
did not do—what I want you to do
you
did not think—how I want you to think
you
were not the way—I want you to be

this is your punishment—you deserve it

if you scream I will beat you even more
even longer and harder

say that you are bad
say that you will never do this again

the girl is laying on the ground
she sobs quietly and says—please, mother, please, end it
I am bad
I will never do this again
I am bad
forgive me

the mountain of hate from inside her mother
—the truth that the girl could read in her mother's eyes—
moves into the soul of the little girl

she has encountered the language of hatred

now she hates too—her mother
and she begins to hate—herself

© Barbara Rogers

back to table of contents

Screams from Childhood

back to top