She put me on her mantelpiece,

a place I could watch the world –

Her world.   

I’ve watched her through her happy days,

and sleep through thunder and hail.

She sang sometimes

and even cried.

Sometimes she shouted, but

That was alright.

.

She put me on her mantelpiece,

all those years ago.

.

Her loving eyes poured into me,

moments where I’d hold my breath,

and trace the new lines on her face

and new pendant around her neck.

.

She left one day,

a sunny day,

and she didn’t come back home.

Her parents packed,

boxed up the flat,

until her room became a place

I couldn’t call home.

.

Still, she put me on the mantelpiece,

a place I could watch the world.

She left me on the mantelpiece,

All those years ago.