The Tragedy of Candace Newmaker
by Philip Ryan Frazier

I was unwanted
Until she wanted me

At least, she thought she did.

I tried to learn to love her
And become the daughter she dreamed of

When she was just a little girl.

She dressed me up
Like a play dolly

So cute and cuddly.

I guess I didn’t fit the part
She paid for me to play

Because I was flesh and bone, not plastic and cotton.

She sent me to a cabin in the woods
For a special kind of treatment

Oh, how I wish they knew what they were doing.

“Love your mother! Be her daughter!”
They tried to turn me into that plastic dolly

For my fake mother’s sake.

I guess I failed
So, they punished me

Like a dog who can’t sit on cue.

Except I couldn’t take the beating
As they thought I could

I died that day.

Who will cry for me?
Will you cry for me?