“We would love to provide bears to all of you who are mourning the loss of someone special. However, we are a very small group and are doing this just for fallen service member’s families.”
—The Matthew Freeman Project

Covered in a piece
of the army uniform
you’d worn, now unstained
as in the morning
you left, the teddy bear
relieves his cries,
making imaginary monsters
punchable and puncturable
for his playdough fists
day in and day out.

I couldn’t fathom his babbles
to the unchanging, blunt stroke
for a smile not yours. I couldn’t tear
the teddy out of his embrace
without waking him
from the nightmare to revisit:
Before ending up statistics, some’d
choose to be the enemy, guarding
their homes just as what
their teddies’ve always done.

Soon the sun will rise, and
join my shadow over his crib.
When he’s out today, I’ll replace
the teddy’s skin with a t-shirt you loved,
not letting my scissors stab
at its innards: such soft,
such fuzzy cotton, is what
becomes of my missing, the
stark contour of your
flesh and blood.

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Cheng Tim Tim is a final-year student in the Department of English and Department of Education. She has problems with proper nouns. She is one of the founding co-editors of EDGE. “Another Matthew Bear” is a finalist of the English Poetry Contest 2015. [Read other poems from the 2015 contest.] [Read all entries by Tim Tim.]