Sunday, May 24, 2009

My Name Is Chris And I Am Three Years Old

Hi. This is an email that was sent to me on the internet. I don't know who to give credit for the writing and original posting of this poem. Whoever you are, thanks for showing us the worst side of child abuse.

For those of you who are unaware, WAKE UP! This happens everyday somewhere in the world. Silence lets it happen. If you do a search for incest or sexual abuse on the internet, you will find that many of us who have survived childhood abuse are now speaking up and breaking the silence of our own abuse at the hands of our parents, our neighbors, our siblings, our aunts or uncles, grandfathers, someone else that we trusted and sometimes by complete strangers. Today most of us know someone who is living with abuse or who survived a childhood of abuse. If you don't know the signs of childhood abuse, check out this cite that I just recently found thanks to Surviving By Grace ( http://thethirdfloorwindow.blogspot.com/ ). The site is called Let Go, Let Peace Come In Foundation blog and is found at the following link:
http://www.letgoletpeacecomein.org/ .

Here is the poem that I wanted to share with you. Beware of emotions ahead. The name of the poem is "Daddy ............ it hurts".

"My name is Chris,
I am three,
My eyes are swollen,
I cannot see.

I must be stupid,
I must be bad,
What else could have made,
My daddy so mad?

I wish I were better,
I wish I weren't ugly,
Then maybe my mommy,
Would still want to hug me.

I can't do a wrong,
I can't speak at all,
Or else I'm locked up,
All day long.

When I'm awake,
I'm all alone,
The house is dark,
My folks aren't home.

When my mommy does come home,
I'll try and be nice,
So maybe I'll get,
One whipping tonight.

I just heard a car,
My daddy is back,
From Charlie's bar.

I hear him curse,
My name is called,
I press myself,
Against the wall.

I try to hide,
From his evil eyes,
I'm so afraid now,
I'm starting to cry.

He finds me weeping,
Calls me ugly words,
He says its my fault,
He suffers at work.

He slaps and hits me,
And yells at me more,
I finally get free,
And run for the door.

He already locked it,
And I start to bawl,
He takes me and throws me,
Against the hard wall.

I fall to the floor,
With my bones nearly broken,
And my dad continues,
With more bad words spoken.

'I'm sorry!', I scream,
But it's now much too late,
His face has been twisted,
Into an unimaginable shape.

The hurt and the pain,
Again and again,
Oh please God, have mercy,
Oh please let it end.

And he finally stops,
And heads for the door,
While I lay motionless,
Sprawled on the floor.

My name is Chris,
I am three,
Tonight my daddy,
Murdered me................."

Unknown Author

I know that this is hard to read and it is the truth of abuse. Even if you survive the physical abuse, there are the scars of emotional abuse to deal with.
Patricia

11 comments:

Daphne @ Joyful Days said...

Patricia,

The reason I know this is true is because I just read in the papers a few days ago that a man had abused and killed his girlfriend's son by throwing him against the wall.

I can't believe people can be so cruel, yet the evidence is all around me. You're doing a good thing by raising people's consciousness so we can do something about this.

Patricia Singleton said...

Daphne, thank you. This is a terrible thing to have happen to any child. Before we can change anything, it has to be brought to our awareness. Thank God that things like this make the news more than they once did. This can no longer be ignored.

Patricia Singleton said...

Colleen, yes, it is hard to read and people can't be allowed to ignore child abuse any longer. It gives me a stomach ache to read it. I hope it distresses everyone who reads it.

Al said...

Patricia, Thank you for sharing such a powerful piece of poetry. Maybe these words will help people realize that abuse is all around them. On the Let Go, Let Peace Come In Foundation website we indicate that each and every person knows at least one survivor and they know at least one perpetrator, and they probably know at least one of each. It's such a scary thought to know that secrets and silence are what breed such horrific stories. We are hoping to provide a strong and powerful voice for those survivors who have not yet found the courage to speak out by "showing" the world through childhood photos & captions that this is not something that should be swept under the rug. Thank you so much for including a link to our site in this post. Please consider posting to our website. Your support is very much appreciated. Gretchen Paules; Administrative Director; Let Go, Let Peace Come In Foundation.

Patricia Singleton said...

Al and Gretchen, thank you so much for the work that you both do on your website. I hope that everyone that reads this article will check out your website.

When I first looked at my incest issues in the 1970's, there was no internet and very little in book form on incest. I had to wait about 15 years before there was much information on incest. Today it is a blessing to have so many resources and so many people speaking out against abuse in all its forms.

Rainbow said...

you can die...but not be dead...just splinter into different alters....like me....that poem very very sad...poor child....

Evelyn Lim said...

My heart sank when I read the poem. Thanks for helping to spread awareness of child abuse.

Patricia Singleton said...

Rainbow, I thank you for leaving this very powerful comment. Safe hugs for all of you.

Patricia Singleton said...

Evelyn, I know this is a difficult poem to read. It makes my point better than any words that I could write about child abuse.

grace turaga said...

Man, dis touched my heart What kind of idiot wud do dis?danks 4 helpin spred de word on preventing chil abuse.owe u lots.

Patricia Singleton said...

Grace, thank you. It is hard to imagine someone treating a child like this.