She stands strong as a tree on a hillside,

Her feet holding firm on the sloping stage.

The audience sitting, staring,

Waiting for her to begin.

Will she remember her lines, she wonders.

She grins, and then she smiles, she can do this!

She steps a bit forward, waving,

Showing that she is ready.

Since she is only six, and still a child,

Her first performance is very scary.

All those people, sitting, watching.

Will they like what she’ll recite?

She says the lines of her story, simply.

Her voice never wavers, she speaks clearly.

Seeing mommy, smiling, clapping,

Along with all the others.

Everyone is smiling, clapping for her.

But she is sad: her daddy isn’t here.

It is hard to not start crying,

Mommy said he went to war.

He went to war; he’s gone forever now.

She is always sad remembering him.

No smiles, touches, happy laughing,

No loving kiss at bedtime.

She wrote this story about her daddy,

About how much she misses him each day,

About hearing mommy sighing,

About having to be strong.

That is what daddy would want her to do,

To be strong and help her mommy each day.

“Be strong” she can hear him saying.

I will, daddy, I’ll be strong!

This poem and the included images are Copyright © 2008 by Colin Kelly (colinian). They cannot be reproduced without express written consent. Codey’s World web site has written permission to publish this poem. No other rights are granted.

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