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About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

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ISSUE NO. 6

December 2024

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Poetry

Only Three

By

A.S.

A.S. writes from Goulburn Correctional Centre in NSW.

Charles Deluvio for Unsplash

I think that God is dead, and he really isn't there,

Or maybe he is on strike, and he just doesn't care.

Last night I prayed to God, to spare my daughter Lee,

And to take my life instead, as she is only three.

She is so sweet and tender, she wouldn't hurt a fly,

So please don't take her life, please don't let her die.

They say she has cancer, and her chances are nil,

So if you refuse to help her, then no one else will.

As I tucked Lee into bed, she seemed so unaware,

She put her faith in God, while I was in despair.

But when morning came, my daughter never woke,

As tears fell from my eyes, I recall the words she spoke.

“Daddy, I know and understand, my time has come around,

But I don't want to leave you, I don't want to let you down,”

“Daddy read a bedtime story, and please try not to weep,

Come and hold me close, as I drift off now to sleep.”

She never hurt a soul, and she was as helpless as can be,

So God I am asking you why you took my daughter Lee?

She was all that I had left, I have nothing left in life,

Because just two years ago, you took my darling wife.

I think that God is dead, and he really isn't there,

Or maybe he is on strike, and he just doesn't care.

Last night I prayed to God, to spare my daughter Lee,

And to take my life instead, as she is only three.

She is so sweet and tender, she wouldn't hurt a fly,

So please don't take her life, please don't let her die.

They say she has cancer, and her chances are nil,

So if you refuse to help her, then no one else will.

As I tucked Lee into bed, she seemed so unaware,

She put her faith in God, while I was in despair.

But when morning came, my daughter never woke,

As tears fell from my eyes, I recall the words she spoke.

“Daddy, I know and understand, my time has come around,

But I don't want to leave you, I don't want to let you down,”

“Daddy read a bedtime story, and please try not to weep,

Come and hold me close, as I drift off now to sleep.”

She never hurt a soul, and she was as helpless as can be,

So God I am asking you why you took my daughter Lee?

She was all that I had left, I have nothing left in life,

Because just two years ago, you took my darling wife.

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