6 months old and
Innocent with trusting
Eyes and curious hands
Running feather light over
My fingers; nothing has
Touched him yet he
Doesn't know what
It means to be hurt,
His heart is unblemished
And so is his skin. I
Wish I could just freeze
Him like that.
5 years old with
Eyes that shine,
Fast moving lips
That know violent
Words and won't
Hesitate to use them
In full, full force with
Flying angry fists and
I wonder how the
Hell she's already like
This.
10 years old with an
Awakening mind; he's
Beginning to know
About the dark sides
Of life even
Though he laughs
Loudly and comments
Fly over his bedhead
And he's still just
A skinny boy but
When did he get so
Tall and when did he
Learn what rape meant;
All I wanted to do
Was protect him from
That.
13 years old and already
Burning out; his blazing
Fire, once so angry and full
And goddamn bright, is
Dimming and dimming
Failing under high expectations
That he never knew he had
Until it was too late to revel
And now he's a shell
Struggling to turn into a man
But I still saw him as a
Baby until I heard him say
Fuck for the first time and
I questioned all this.
17 years old and she's
So grown up it's been
Half a decade, at the
Very least since she
Held a Barbie doll
And she had no
Drunk stories and
Slutty secrets;
I used to hear her
Stories and now all
I get is second-hand
Gossip and she won't look
Me in the eye and there's
No reason for that.
©The Last Letter