Once Upon A Shooting Star

• Tiarna Wynne, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2009

Once upon a shooting star
I made a wish to get a car
All I thought of was the fun
That I could have whilst on the run
All I wanted was a car

A phone call later on that night
Brought terrible news and gave me a fright
“An accident” was all they said
An accident and my mum was dead
My dad wouldn’t even say ‘it’ll be alright”

He told me I should go to bed
He told me to sleep and handed me ted
He gave me a photo of my mum smiling brightly
Then hugged me and kissed me ever so tightly
But I didn’t want him and I didn’t want ted: I wanted my mum instead

Day after day after day after day
I waited for all to be okay
Then came the day we were to bury mum
As we walked down the road my body went numb
And at the front of the church was where my mum lay

The coffin was as black as the night-time sky
I wondered to myself; “Why did my mum have to die?”
I thought about where she might be
And how much she was given for tea
My dad told me she was happy but I know that’s a lie

Each night I kneel by my bed and pray
I pray that all will be okay
I wish for my mum to be here with me
I wish I was sitting on her knee
Then I sit by my window and wait for day

Since then many years have been
Now I’m grown up, I’m actually eighteen!
I was the only girl without a mum
Most of school I was told that I was dumb
But that was all before I met Dean

Now we’re engaged, we’re really pleased
And no longer am I teased
In just less than eight months time
We going to have a baby; Anna or Jake Grime
From my childhood horrors I’ve been released

My mum is with where ever I go
Her spirit is always with me, Dean says so
I know she going to protect and take care of me
At any time of the day; breakfast, lunch or tea
She’s going to ensure that I’m never alone.