This is a piece based on abuse and neglect. There's a slight irony in the title in that there is freedom in innocence but at the time that the character is experiencing abuse, he/she is still quite young. There will also be a point in the poem when the perpetrator and not a third party is the speaker and he/she is telling the child that it’s all for his/her benefit. In the end, the child is comforted by the thought that he/she will soon become numb; the perpetrator doesn’t stop the abuse but the child will no longer feel anything that the perpetrator will do.

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the freedom in innocence

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broken child, sleep not in tears

the demons have gone and left

broken child, stop clutching your ears

from the guilt of freedom bereft

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broken child, ‘tis never your fault -

those cuts and bruises on your face...

"but, broken child, this vicious assault

shall leave you to your place

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broken child, stroke not your pain

your purpose you have served..."

broken child, do not fear disdain

for the loss of innocence reserved

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broken child, you’ll soon devise

a means by which you shall remain

a broken child - in a fair disguise,

and soon the sinful shall abstain.

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to the broken child within - for the years you have wasted clinging on to life and for the absolution you never had.