The Ventriloquist

by Ted Hughes

We caught each other by the body

     And fell in a heap.

Your doll in the dark bedroom woke

     With her scream a whip.

With your arms around my neck

     I ran through a thorny wood.

The doll screamed after us, to the world.

     Daddy was no good.

You sobbed against my chest.

     I waded the river’s freeze.

The doll had put your Mummy on show—

     The Kraken of the seas.

As you lay on the bed

     I leaned to lock the door.

The doll sat on the roof and screamed

     I was with a whore.

The doll broke in that night

     Killed you and was gone

Screaming at the stars to look

     And see Justice done.