I'd like to tell you a story if I may
It's about a baby girl who was born one day
On the 15th of December
On a hot Australian night
A tiny baby trying to hold on to her life

She was declared by the doctors
To be not a fit one to live
So her parents prepared
To say goodbye and forgive
The loss of their baby
Never to hear her laugh
A terrible thing
That broke both their hearts

But no one could foresee
The inner strength of the child
After a glimpse of life
She was determined to hold
Onto that one small spark
So she stubbornly lived
Through the hours of that night

With her mothers loving care
The child survived and grew
Passing to her daughter
Every thing she knew
She taught her to read at the age of 3
And that child became
The woman that is me

From a very young age
I remember becoming lost in a story
Somewhere to escape to
When life became boring
I was a sickly child confined to my bed
Watching life through a window above my head

I loved to read and write and talk
A special treat for me was to be allowed to walk
Outside the house like other kids
And one day that's just what I did
Three quarters of my young life spent in bed
With fantasy and stories abounding in my head

I dreamed that one day I'd be heard
By people whom I'd never met around the world
Then one day a man called Philip G Bell
Recognized that I had a few stories to tell
He introduced me to the Literary Angels Club
And I found out that day
That something worth waiting for
With no limit to imagination's scope
Comes to those with a dream
And the power of hope

©Janine Daniel