High strung
They called her
Unsettled
We come home
She’d clawed her a notch
Jerked the planks right out
Said the witch needed her.  

They said it was my fault
How I carried on when
I carried her
Ginseng they said
Ease the hippo
Help her sleep
Start slow
Build the dose
None of us knew
What it would take
To smother her.