Dreadful Discoveries

 

She hangs from slender threads of intrigue, mere spider’s webs;

How intricate and subtle, the masks that cover more than heads!

There was a time, light minutes ago and split seconds from eternity,

When heavy-handed caresses backhanded a too fragile sanity.

 

Power struggles but confirmed family hierarchy, destroyed defiance,

Compressed heinous consequences into depressed compliance.

 

The child burrowed deep, dug a black hole steeped in silence,

Poured in memory and tamped it down, but time works rents

In the fine mesh pall, uncovers all, brings tattered secrets back,

Even those whispered threats that tore away her innocence. Track

 

The tears that fall, that cleanse, that break the invisible chains

And free a young woman to accept the dire truth that pains.

 

How can he bald-faced say, you know, it’s my word against yours;

The line between truth and lies breaks down and proof blurs…

Sour is the taste; bitter is the knowledge and sullied is the grace

That once wore a trusting smile upon a child’s upturned face.

 

The tears that fall, the words that choke, the pain

That rains silence on water wicks outward, an indelible stain.

 

                        ã Nyuka Anaïs Laurent