Mama plays dress-up in the bedroom

While Daddy plays the Atari in the living room

I stand in the corner

Waiting for one of them to grow up and

Feed me

I'm only six; I can't touch the stove

And so I'm screaming

I'm hungry and there's no food

Because Mama forgot to keep aging

After Grandma tried shoving money down her throat

And Daddy forgot to keep talking

After everyone started ignoring him

I don't know if that's really what happened with him

I don't know him, because I'm six

And he hasn't uttered a word of importance

Since before I was born

But I'm assuming that's the case.

Anyway, I'm screaming.

Mama says, "Oh, da little baby is cwying!"

And goes back to her sequins and makeup

And Daddy pretends nothing is happening

As he levels up on his game,

His arms shooting straight up in the air with a silent victory

And normally I can pretend that I'm happy for him

Even though I'm not actually aware of what's going on

But that is of no importance.

I'm hungry, and there's no one to help me get food

So I'm screaming

And I suddenly realize

That my screaming is doing nothing

So I stop

And I become silent like my father

And pretend everything's okay like my mother

Hoping that one of these days

I'll grow up, out of this six year-old skin

Into something more than a starving, screaming

Small child.