Gail Whitter is a mixed-media artist living in a small town in British Columbia, Canada. A poet in a former life, she spends most of her time listening to music and creating Spirit Dolls and jewelry. Little Girl Lost, from a collection of poems titled A Time for Ashes, is dedicated to her mother, and is available for free download on Scribd. Find out more about her art and poetry on her blog.
LITTLE GIRL LOST
far above the dust & din
of ordinary traffic
& those places where
the others are
sipping their whiskey
& water
i am three, five & seven
here, in my safe place
[this room was yours]
rummaging broken drawers
& unlit wardrobes
for the warm you left behind
i am nine, eleven, thirteen
spinning in the full-length mirror that turns young women into things
waiting for you to come home
sometimes fearful
sometimes furious
& now a starker age
of almost twenty-something
i am trying on your favourite
red stiletto heels
but already my feet too big
