The Secret She Hid

The secret she hid away,
is still in her heart today,
this solemn old woman,
who earnestly begins to pray

She pleaded God to forgive her, though
she sensed that He was always there;
yet she needed to tell someone,
what she could no longer bare

For many years ago,
as though it was a nightmare,
she had killed her only daughter,
for the life brought to her was never fair

She re-enacted the scene
often, since the horror began,
how she managed to kill her daughter,
the tiny infant whose name was Pam

Most would have condemned her,
never accepting her reasons ,
but they weren't there each night
when her husband would inflict his malevolence

Pam's mother watched in terror,
as her daughter was severely beaten
the monster would then turn on his wife
as her child huddled in a corner, frightened.

She tried a thousand times,
to flee from this vicious man
but he always laughed "I'll follow you
wherever you go, don’t you understand?"

She lived in poverty and fear,
wishing for the aid she never had.
She tried reporting him to the police
but they could not bother to lend a hand

She decided one day,
to go against the odds;
she could not endure the beatings,
that were shredding her without a thought.

Hence on a chilly gloomy night,
she tucked her daughter to bed,
kissing her goodnight and goodbye
for by morning Pam would be dead.

She had put in Pam's dinner arsenic,
and along with many tears,
whispered softly to her weeping daughter,
"Soon you'll never have to live in fear."

She found her daughter dead,
when morning arose.
she cried tears of sorrow and pain,
but asking Pam to forgive her was the utmost

She covered the corpse with a blanket, placed
it tenderly in her dump, drove to a river bank
a few thousand miles away, and began to
sob as her beloved sank

She was questioned by her relatives
the whereabouts of Pam, an excuse was
created, and soon everyone forgot about
the child who was never given a chance first.

Knowing that Pam would forgive her,
this old lady found great solace
for she had confessed what she had done,
and at last she found great peace.

Edna Pang
3 Grace