Gingerbread Red
Gingerbread red
Poem started may 24, 2022
Blood marks the spot
Just follow the red dot
Let’s play a game
I don’t think it has a name
X marks the spot
On your wrist that day
Another buried treasure
Slowly washing away
It wasn’t your first time
And it wouldn’t be your last
“X marks the spot”
It’s etched into my past
Dad dropped us home that morning
Without a second thought
And I guess that would be normal
If it weren’t for the red dot
The air was cold and crisp
Autumn danced under my nose
My sequin sneakers hit the ground
Blood drops under my toes.
Blood marks the spot.
Just follow the red dot.
Let’s play a game, sweet girl.
Don’t worry…It’s only a game.
No school today,
No time for play
I’ll be a kid a different day.
Red is the clue
I followed it to you
Blood all around
There’s mom on the ground
X marks the spot
Just follow all the dots
I don’t want to play this game.
It haunts me frame by frame
Up the sidewalk I skipped
A slow and steady pace
I knew what I’d find
At the end of this blood race
Blood marks her spot.
Just follow the red dot.
Let’s play a game.
Sweet girl…it’s just a game.
Please, let it be a game.
Your sorrow was a wave
Cascading down on me
I drowned on all your water
So that you could always breathe
The front door opens
You’re not in sight
But each new drop
Brings you to light
The shattered bottle
Your poison foe
Dripping ink
A bloody show
X marks the spot
On your wrist that day
Just follow the red dot
I don’t think I want to play.
-Amanda carden
Copyright © Amanda Carden | Year Posted 2023
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