Once upon a time
in a life that used to be
Happiness and hope
in a loving family ~
A haven from the world
in a mother's embrace
A home that's made of love
made it a special place.

Once upon a time
her fondest memory
Of the birds outside her window
singing happily ~
The stillness in the air
of the early morn
As she waited for the sun
to rise at the break of dawn.

Once upon a time
when daddy used to say
That she would be his little girl
forever and a day ~
A time when she was happiest
for all the world to see
Upon her daddy's shoulders,
where she would always be.

Once upon a time
when she woke in sweats
Screaming at the nighmare
she would just forget ~
The scraping at the window
or the tap on the door
She could never remember
what she hated night time for.

Once upon a time
she was just a little girl
When the image of her dreams
had shattered her world ~
She didn't understand
she never tried to see
What secrets had been repressed
in her memory.

Once upon a time
she walked in the door
And remembered what she hated
the dreaded nighttime for ~
The image of her nightmares
in her little sister's bed
She was now his little girl
as she heard the things he said.

Once upon a time
when she stood at the door
She saw it in slow motion
and blood on the floor ~
With the gun in her hand
and her daddy on the floor
She embraced her little sister,
he would hurt her no more.

Once upon a time
the house that stands alone
Used to be the place
that was once her home ~
Where once a happy family
that was torn apart
Had died with their secret
that's buried in the past.

Once upon a time
lived a little girl
Inside a woman's body
in her little world ~
The memories of the secret
locked within her mind
When she used to have a family
once upon a time....

© Christina
29th September, 2002

"This is a poem about a little girl who loved and trusted her daddy.  She thought he was the best;  he was the centre of her world.   And he abused that trust.   It is about a little girl who wakes up in sweats from nightmares she can neither understand nor remember.  It is about the life she once remembered; the family she once remembered; the happy times, the facade of secrets....the memories.   It is about the nightmare she saved her little sister from....the one she endured herself, but did not remember.   It is about a little girl in a woman's body....a little girl who never grew up, yet who was forced to grow up too quickly....It is about her memories of once upon a time...."