^Death Of Innocence
A little girl was playing in the garden 'round her home,
Mischief sparkled in her dark eyes and her curly hair was blond.
Innocent joy rang in the laughter of her happy, playful song:
'Dandelions are as pretty as the flowers that grow high.
I have picked some for you, Mommy, and I want to show you why.
They make tassels on our slippers; we can wear them, you and I.'
Into that happy garden crept a serpent black and long,
Shining sinister in the sunlight as he flicked a jeweled tongue.
Captivatedly she listened to his strange inviting song:
'Stolen candies can be sweeter than the ones your parents buy.
Taste how sweet they are, like honey, as I coil about your thigh.
It will be our little secret as we eat them, you and I.'
Secrets growing in a garden, in among the pretty blooms,
Rob children of their laughter; so that it was very soon
That a mother's heart was sighing a sad, foreboding tune:
'Oh, my daughter was so pretty, and I wish that I knew why
Such a change has come about her that it makes my spirit cry.
Her eyes have lost their glitter and she has not told me why.'
Little girls will always grow up; that, in life, has been decreed,
While secrets locked in childhood are concealed in history.
Yet the scars they are concealing will be sung in misery:
'Why do candies taste so bitter? Why does laughter make me cry?
Why do I have a feeling happiness has passed me by?
I'm living with a memory that will haunt me 'til I die.
Within me lives a memory that will haunt me 'til I die.'
Great poem with childhood story secrets that hold inside sometimes forever and different situations with an apt title...regards
Hmmm Wow, I like the idea of allowing the readed to have a between the lines experence.Thank you for sharing
I do not know why anyone would have rated this less than a 10...maybe they just do not understand, but I do. It is a wonderful poem... and thank you for sharing it
well you have said it all here the loss of innocence, is a fire that cannot be quenched, for the remaining life of a human being well wrote adeline
A beautiful poem about the loss of innocence and the secrets that can eat away at all of us and change us forever!
Yes i can remember those days when I lost my innocence.Much like the way she does in your poem.I was so bad when I was young and when you have to lie about everything you do and hide all of your activity it is very stressful. I only wanted to do what my parents told me not to. I wish they would have told me to do all the bad things I shouldn't be doing then I would have done the opposite.Kids won't do anything you tell them to.Reverse psychology works well on hard headed kids.I turned out okay in the end I guess. Good poem.poem.
This poem is highly recommended for Explication de texte, as Leech puts it, for the students of poetry comprehension. The D-structure is very obvious.the metaphor is smartly handled, it has the depth of the classical Temptation scene.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I relate completely to this poem although I was a boy and I still keep those secrets. It doesn't get any easier but your poem seems to comfort me somehow. Thank you.