This one was inspired by an essay I wrote about when I was young. Childhood seems so innocent and pure, but if you take on another perspective, you'll see how perverse and grotesque things can be.

The Nursery

Inanimate animals

Caked with dust

Beady eyes glower

With tinges of betrayal.

How could you?

Metals bars bearing rust

Lock baby in.

Enclosed

Like an animal in captivity

Serving its life sentence.

Mobile swivels round

Tinkling notes spill over.

Cloying sound lingers

In the vacuum.

Emptier than before.

Plastic grins

Plastered on plastic faces.

Garish spectrum of shades.

Morbid cheer

Strains like the smarting of a slap.

Inconspicuous markings

Lie emblazoned on the walls

Indications of a child's vertical growth

Indelibly inked,

Haunting reminder of the past.