The Little Girl

Here is a poem that I wrote many years ago. I did not remember it until I found it by chance in an old folder. But reading it brought me back to that morning in July 2016 when I sat to pen it.

I saw myself at my desk and experienced the same emotions again...

The Little Girl

Dancing in the rain,

Droplets falling on her face,

The little girl sings.

Passers-by stare, dumbfounded.

Oh, she doesn’t care!

Mommy’s in the hospital—

Dad’s left for an atoll—

Adults are sad anyways,

The little girl thinks.

She picks up yellow flowers;

She’ll make a bouquet

For those who think about her.

It’s late now. Time flies.

No matter what they might say,

Take a look at her.

Thoughts crowd in and out, transient.

The little girl smiles.

She wants to jump in puddles,

But they won’t let her.

She may well catch some disease

Or stain her outfit.

They snatch the flowers from her.

Will they ever stop?

Is shouting the only way?

Maybe love is hard,

Or no one ever showed them.

The little girl cries.

The little girl tries to speak,

But words die within.

Only the Moon really smiles –

She looks like grandma!

Now, she will stop pretending.

Now, she will behave,

‘Cause that’s what they want from her.

Dreaming in her bed,

She invents a better world.

Adults are so sad!

The little girl stares at me.

I feel connected.

I feel loved abundantly!

Will she ever find the moon?

Twenty years ago,

I remember meeting a little girl.

I recall her song, her dance in the rain.

I still see her smile, the yellow flowers.

I remember her so well,

Because this little girl was me!

©2006 Cendrine Marrouat

That's it for today. Thank you for reading!

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Cendrine Marrouat is a writer, photographer, podcaster, blogger, anthology editor, and the co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms and A Warm Cup of Cozy. She has authored and co-authored more than 40 books, including The Train: A Short Story (2023), In Her Own Words: A Collection of Short Stories & Flashku (2022), After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine (2021), Rhythm Flourishing: A Collection of Kindku and Sixku (2020), Walks: A Collection of Haiku (2019-2020), and In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play (2018).

Cendrine's work has appeared in many publications. She is the creator of the Sixku, Flashku, Sepigram, and Reminigram; as well as the co-creator of the Kindku, Pareiku, Vardhaku, and Hemingku.