Death Of A Childhood Poem by Mary Nagy

Death Of A Childhood



I thought I was prepared.
People asked
''Are you excited? ''
I always answered
''Heck yes I am! ''
My ''baby-girl''
heading off to college
to become a police officer
filled me with more pride than I ever imagined.

But-
also never imagined...
the emptiness left
in her absence.
Felt immediately.
After the truckload of
''college essentials''
were carried to her tiny dorm room
we said our goodbyes
and it hit me...
her childhood is over!

There is no more time
to schedule those
''One day we'll take the kids there...''trips.
No more
''When we get the money we'll do this...''.
Broken promises
flooded my ears.
All I heard was my own voice
reassuring her that ''One day we'll....''.
The tears have dried over the past 3 weeks.
But the lesson learned
will stay forever.
I will not mourn
the death of a childhood,
I will celebrate the life
of a beautiful young woman.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Ernestine Northover 12 September 2007

I'm applauding Mary, this is a lovely write, very moving. I'm so thrilled that Chelsea is going into the Police Force, great profession. Anthony was a Police officer in the Royal Military Police and my son-in-law is a Detective in the Police. Please give her my best wishes and I hope all goes well for her. I'm sure it will and that she will graduate with flying colours. Hope you are all OK. Miss the chats. Love and hugs Ernestine XXX

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Oh, I completely echo what DJ said. It's wonderful to see you posting Mary - and in such jubilant form! Congratulations to you both. Your pride shines through this lovely piece. t x

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Joseph Daly 11 September 2007

Mary it is great to read a new poem by Mary Nagy. As with all of your poems this one is so life affirming. The voice is down-to-Earth humanitarianism and this is a brilliant example of that. I love the way that this is structured allowing the reader plenty of time to take in each line. The language is you Mary. I can't recall anyone else who writes in this manner. There are those who write in a down-to-Earth manner, the most famous being Bukowski, but, thankfully you are not he. This is an illustration of how you draw out your narrative and draw in the reader, like a log fire on a freezing cold night. The theme, as ever, may strike one as something to empathise with, but then they would miss the real beauty of the poem: the universiality that you manage to convey (in this case, accetance) without (so it appears) effort. Great to have you back Mary.

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