It, like many, was a still clear night,
The child held me with an arm.
As she listened to her parents fight…
Her heart beat furiously with alarm.
One hand was squeezing me tightly,
The other was in her mouth.
She couldn’t understand, rightly,
What the argument was about.
Daddy hadn’t come home after school.
He seldom did you see,
And when he did come home, he was cruel.
And the child cried to me.
Her wet eyes would look confusedly into mine,
Though I could not speak…
I tried to express things would be fine…
Her sorrow – it made me weak.
Night after night we would spend,
With each other; we were never alone.
That young child was my friend-
The only one I’ve ever known.
The years went by so very fast.
She eventually ran away.
She did not leave me in her past-
I sit on her bed day after day.
Though my black eyes just seem to stare,
Though my fur is all worn out,
And though I’m but a Teddy Bear-
I love that lady – without a doubt.