Sarah Barnbrook Poem

The Girl Who Fought the Dark
by Sarah Barnbrook

I waited for the stories to be true
for armour in the doorway,
for footsteps meant for saving,
for a voice that spoke of light.

But the dragons came in silence,
and I was small and trembling,
while the world stayed wide awake
and chose to look away.

I learned to fight with quiet hands,
a child with shaking bravery,
swinging at the shadows
no one else would ever face.

Hope thinned to a dying candle,
wax drowning out the flame.
I dreamed of silver horses,
but only ashes filled my lungs.

No rescue.
No armour.
No shield but my own breath.

So I battled through the darkness,
alone with ragged courage,
a war too large for little bones,
a night that stole my sleep.

And still, the world kept watching.

Now I walk through daylight
carrying the echo of that war,
a childhood lost to monsters
and a child-sized sword
abandoned in a field of shadows
where no one ever came