Oh, the trying times of an orphan named Mary

life was less than pleasant

and frequently scary

She’d go begging for food

from door to door

always upon always wanting more

Her mother was dead when she turned three

her father dissapeared at six

so Mary went to live with her blind aunt Nan

who made her living by cleaning cans

and Mary got what was left

which was nothing but rot

So Mary tried to go to work

to see if anything would work

No on wanted an 8 year old little girl

for a garbage collector

"Too heavy for you" they would say

"we’ll get someone else"

So often Mary was left out in the cold

often wishing that she were old

She only wanted enough money

to live on more than stale bread

and crackers

The darkness chased her eight

years and hid them away

No one wanted a dirty little orphan

who couldn’t even dance for her supper

Her poverty was an illusion to the

world who ignored her cries for help

and kept buying Wonder Bread

for their fat rich sons

She was chased by a dog more

than once and hid away in small

places where no one but God could her

her cries

She was scared of shadows

she was scared of the moon

and the little room her aunt had for her

Her only friend was her teddy bear

-she called him happy because he

made her so

These are trying she told Happy

and I don’t what to do

so she held Happy and fell asleep

and dreamt about a happy place

where all little boys and girls

have parents who are waiting

for them with a hug inside a happy

home where they eat strawberries

and cream and don’t have to sell

cans on the street and steal

newspapers for people who want them,

and beg for food at grocery stores

It seems like a nice place to live

she thought as a smile crossed over

her lips

That’s how she was found the next day

- with a smile on her lips, and

all wrapped up in newspaper and

clutching onto Happy with her stiff

arms.

But she wasn’t there anymore

God had rescued her from her

trying times, and was there to greet

her at the door of her new home

-he looked just like a big teddy bear.