To Susan In Brøndby Strand Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

A child of ten summers
an adolescent with
freedom to move around,
you have Brøndby Strand
as your home-
the lucky recipient
of your beauty,
innocense and smiles.

And one Friday night
you disappeared
like a bubble in thin air.
For seven days
we have sought for you
have waited and followed
the news of your safe return.
For seven days you`ve become
the object of our worries,
fears, theories and silent prayers.

Our hearts scream in protest
when conceiving a glimpse
of a frightening ordeal
you must have gone through
as a young child
with our helplessness
to deliver you
saved only by the hope
that goodness should
triumph over evil.

But on Friday, the seventh night
after you disappeared,
you are found dead
in a locked basement n Tranumparken,
wrapped in paper boxes
lifeless- your body, rotting, desecrated,
reduced into a mere garbage.

Susan, we cry for you
we cry with your family
and loved ones.

Brøndby Strand, your home,
has ceased to be your home
and has ceased to be our home
as long as the offender runs free.
And as long as the offender runs free,
Brøndby Strand will ever be blanketed
by darkness, horror and uncertainty.

Forgive us for our inability to help you
Forgive us for our slowness to action
Forgive us for having ceased
to live as a community but
as detached individuals
imprisoned by concrete walls.

Thank you for your life
that forever reminds us
of the fragility and beauty of child`s life.
And let our aborted love for you
shine in our hearts and minds
to wage a battle
against abuses
done to little children like you.


_________________
(written with tears after having known that the dead corpse of Susan was found. Susan was our neighbor in Brøndby Strand)