Burrr...
Daily spanking - check!
Single Sheet wrapped around me - Check!

Time for sleep...
But, the big pale circle;
Never really moving,
Reappears every night,
Only to despise me with its frozen glare.
I don't dare ask what they call the featureless face.

Rice for breakfast.
Again.
Then, sit and watch the little gray screen,
where two gray-haired people play banjo and sing.
No toys. No games. No school.

Splash! gasp... Splash! ga... Splash!
Bath time is nigh the worst.
Only one other time is worse -
When I prostrate myself
beside the limp form in the wooden casket,
grateful that such is not my fate on this day.

Day comes to a close;
Yet, first sign of pure light
as the orange burst illuminates the room.
My body fills with warmth,
and I smile at this relished daily moment.

This is what gives me hope.

Years have passed now.
I have seen the greater light of day,
And received a toddler's childhood of
new experiences
crammed in a year's re-birth.

Rain. Television - every channel, my favorite.
Pizza. Holidays - again, every one, my favorite.
People. Cars - the first drive, not my favorite.

"Mama Hao, Papa Hao."
"Hi dad and mom" - words never taught to me
but the first to come out
when I met my mother and father,
who have given me more than rice,
including a toy piano and siblings so nice.

All of the above, I could do without,
save my family, who are my reason to live.
Families are forever.
That is our vow.

The cold days will never be forgotten.
Only warmed by the hope
that another life can be saved
when I return a future day.