She's a little girl
And her rings are just shadows she's tied to her fingers
Lace socks folded over cracked plastic heels
That unsteadily make their way down sticky wooden stairs

Out the back door
Away from his hands
To a corner with an orange stake
Plunged into the ground

Knees in the dirt to pray
God is her only secret

Sometime later, somewhere inside
His shadow falls in her light
And she's reduced to a whisper again

Her green velvet dress will have to come off
He says
Because the last thing he wants her to be
Is a little girl