No Place Like Home

Her hands are gnarled around the blanket
That encompasses her being on her blue rug,
Shaking like an infant, she cries in pure silence.
Stuffed animals stare at her, sentinel,
Watching her wet features quiver.

Screams erupt from above her as she
Hides her head inside the covers
Trying to deafen the sorrow that pierces her soul,
To erase the crude marks upon her back...
Her life, like a vice, wrenches her heart;
Its swollen walls vibrate in fear.

As the screaming subsides, her eyes
Peek pitifully out into her room
With sandpaper in her throat, a face full of
Salty tears and sweat.
The door creaks softly, but sounds cacophonous
To the ears of one so young, so scared.

Her demon enters through the portal,
Teeth gleaming, eyes shining insanely
As he pulls out his favorite toy.
She hides once again in the warm blanket
Hands clasped together, clammy and slick
And whispers quietly so he can’t hear her,
“There’s no place like home,
There’s no place like home,
There’s no place like home..."