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Harden Street, 1958 (Part Two)

con't

I watched in disbelief
as I saw her hand reach
flash of white sleeve
her back as she turned to leave

and the brick that fell
as time stood still
it tumbled down in slow motion.

And I was only three
and powerless to move
or voice a warning
stuck in the molasses
of that summer morning.

It knocked him cold
and truth be told
he was out for a long while

I tasted bile
saw her smile...

No doctor was phoned

Heal on your own

Left alone

I could only pray
for my own survival,
pray that she didn't know
that I'd witnessed what
she'd done

to her six year old son.

I'm ashamed
of the ignorance I feigned.

I hid what I'd seen,
buried it deep,
and prayed to God
my soul to keep.

I knew that she could
squash me like a bug
as casual as a shrug
and it would be swept
under the proverbial rug.

She would have thrived on the attention
no one would question
no blame would be placed
on the devil with the angel's face.

I was taught not to recognize
what I'd seen with my own two eyes.

And now the replay
switches gears:

and I am drowning
in my own tears,

Just three and left alone
on the sidewalk
outside our home.
She'd gone to Five Points
to shop
and did I want to go?
and when I said no

she just

up and left

and I was bereft

Copyright © Danielle White | Year Posted 2008

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