An abandoned garden tries to survive alone,
A blind house with no windows stands alone in the rain,
Empty rooms remember their old glory
filled with laughter or tears
As their shame peels off with time.

A Broken doll lies on the floor
and somewhere out there a child
feels lonely and cries.

There was not enough time to breathe
and pack all they had
and cry for tomorrow's uncertainty
and run away for their lives.

They wished that they could take everything with them,
Old photos of parents and uncles and cousins,
Grandmother’s swinging chair,
The wooden clock in the living room,
Favourite books and records,
Cuddly stuffed animals filled with love
But they couldn’t.

They wished to find the strength to collect
the small things,
the priceless ones,
those that they were bound with memories.
Old scented diaries,
Books from primary school,
A present from a dear friend,
A picture that their child drew when she was five..

But all they took was their heart
packed in a dead suitcase,
the smell of the flowers blossoming outside,
a handful of solid just to have a small piece
of what they called home.

'Sarah' was left behind,
along with happiness.

The doll was thrown away and kicked by soldiers.
They forgot that they have children of their own.
She is now an orphan and alone,
but she is not the only one.

Somewhere out there a little girl is growing older,
with broken wings instead of butterfly ones,
having terrifying dreams of evil soldiers
instead of ones filled with
castles and fairy godmothers;
and praying every single night to God
to bring 'Sarah' back

and

her father.

Ivy Christou

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-sarah-was-left-behind/