The DSM-IV-TR Demon

Into this dangerous world another child was born

then from her drug addicted mother she was torn

her mother fought sometimes and got her back

but she was so far lost down the cities dirty track

She wanted to hold her but she knew it wasn't right

babies weren't welcome beneath the old red light

She learnt quick and fast and she grew up mean

never really a kid never had a childhood dream

Life for street kids it doesn't work out that way

for without the John's money there was no pay

youth detention centres pushed her toward bad

foster homes paedophiles helped make her mad

The child grew or you could say was dragged up wrong

at times beaten and battered by her mothers John's

learning early the bruising effects of a drunken rage

her medical record a timeline of abuse on every page

At twelve heroin found it's way inside her tiny arm

her youthful body pulled customers like a lucky charm

the harsh city streets remained her only home

then she lost her own child just two days grown

Her young life was tough her life was so cruel

battling her way through the hard knock school

her Mother had died and her baby long gone

her life's story reads like a sad country song

Methadone Cocaine Ice Speed and Crack,

she was truly lost down the dark side of the track

every man that knew her beat her black and blue

this way of life was the only thing she knew

She started to steal more, to rob and to bash

the John's paid less and the dealers needed cash

her once youthful supple body began to age

when she lost her beauty she found her rage

Prison system soon became more often her home,

raped by men and women beaten and truly alone

a mental illness came she was labelled with a few

all kinds of treatments began and some ECT too

Her journey was cast as she moved from place to place

her tragedies putting many lines onto her once pretty face

asylums and psych wards places you wouldn't like to be

I can’t imagine she ever once had the feeling of being free

Stigmatised sanitised and slipping into the cracks

living proof of intolerance and all that our society lacks

the 'crazy' lady you see there in the hospital bed.

looks seventy eight but twas forty five that her ID read

Many now think she is a hopeless lost cause,

their criticisms flow sharply but never applause

I see a fighter, a spirit that just will not lay down

one that made it through the toughest side of town

Sure she's angry, violent swearing and mad,

but look a little closer at the life's she's had

if you or I had to share just part of her song

could we have stood up and been that strong

She's faced every hardship every wrong turn

rose against the odds didn't crash and burn

now she sleeps peacefully forever beneath the earth

I hope her maker knows and values her true worth

Now her tortured mind will finally get some rest

for she has while on this earth passed every single test

they told me her daughter finally came along

a couple of days late after her mother had gone

For the mother that she never knew she stood and cried

proudly with her four children right there by her side

adopted by a lovely family that gave her a good life

a proud Mother herself now and a loving happy wife

She placed a picture of her family upon her mother’s grave

her husbands in the clergy and they believe she's been saved

I shed a few tears when I heard and I thought oh boy

then my tears were for her peace and her finding true joy

Jeffrey Goudy. Poetry in Paradise. 23/02/2015