Gill Laker
46 years old
IT Database Designer and mother
Regret
Sitting with a blank page
And so much to say
It occurs to me
That I do not know
The Iraqi word
For "Sorry"
Don't tell Sophie
When my daughter
was four she had
an imaginary friend
called Sophie
She lived in
the cupboard
under the stair
and she had to be
dressed
…and fed
…..and placated
at every turn
She liked chocolate
when she could get it
and never ate sprouts
She had a special chair
and a special doll
and a special story
in a special book
"You know she's not real"
I said one day
when time was short
and my daughter said
"Of course I do -
just don't tell her"
Now I read of Iraq
and the death of shame
the triumph of fear
in a distant land
and I have to wonder
who's not really there
under the stair
with a special story
and a special chair
"They already knew"
you hear us cry
now that time is short
and we're paper thin
too late to name names
in our special book
or be suitably shocked
we were only the dream
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