Family Secrets
After all,
he taught Bible study
at our local church.
Mother caught him
kissing her cousin, Marie,
in the kitchen.
He groped cousin Anna
under the water
as we swam in the pond.
Anna’s mother told mine.
My thirteenth birthday,
in his eyes, meant
that I was fair game.
I resisted, threaten to tell.
Again, Mother caught him
lying on the hall floor
before an open door
with head hung down
to watch sister and I
shower in the basement.
A lifetime of dread
for the next incident
when, or what, or who.
Always uncomfortable
in his presence.
Thirty-five years,
the ugly secret kept,
for Mother’s sake.
In my heart,
sweet relief felt,
on the day he died.
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