I

I


I am the forsaken child
that life plays
cruel jokes and
tricks on


the teenage girl who
hums the blues of
country and western singers
intermingled with the
torch songs of
Aretha Franklin
and other singers like her


my audience is curious owls
 sitting stoically
 observing me


waiting for me
to rock myself to
sleep like a new
born baby
in need of something
it couldn’t name

                                                            copyrighted by dorothy charles banks