Death of Innocence

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This poem was written by Sandra Howlett. She has given us permission to share her work.

I knew from an early age

that you’d never survive

in this cruel world

your eyes open wide

at first in awe

and then in desperation

thinking your intense gaze

would somehow shed light

on the haziness of events,

the death of innocence,

at losing your dad

to those radical Seventies fads 

of partner swapping

and free love

that cost you so much

And when the pain

became part of your sexual 

games played

on a stage of indifference

to punish yourself for his leaving,

you relived this dying

again and again—

as if it was the only thing

that made sense anymore

© Copyright Sandra Howlett 2021