Culpable

Cherry
Poem of the week

By london_calling79

Sat, 02 May 2015
  • 9086 reads
24 comments
 

There was the one we gave you on the stairs.

We passed that off as exuberance.

Soft little smashes,

deserved.
 

Then there were more,

like the beginnings of rain.

Purple splashes on your forgiving skin,

fully justified.

 

We gave you everything.

Didn’t hold back.

More mulberry mistakes.

Yours, of course.
 

If you had kept

a civil tongue in your head...

But you spilled it all didn't you?

Split your lips like pomegranate.

 

Believed the lies they

spun to you

told on us

let us down you

 

traitor.
 
Fucking traitor.
 

Lying through that mouth,

that mouth of yours

that charnel house.
 

I wish you were stood here

in these slamming doors.

 

But justice will be done.

That last time?

The tooth fairy won't shell out for that one.

Certificate 18
Poem
New Set
Other Non-fiction

Comments

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

This cut deep, lc79. Made me more emotional than I expected.

Rich

 

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Thanks Hudson, it's a horrible poem. Not nice rattling around in a head like that.

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

A brutal exposé, vivid and unflinching.

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Thanks guys and thanks Eds for the cherries. Most undeserved.

 

If you liked the poem please donate: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/make-a-donation/donate-nspcc/

 

 

Submitted by tibi popovici on

I find it powerful, terrible also, yes, but strong and with an intriguing ending. Good work, LC!

T.

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Cheers T. Thank you for your praise.

 

Submitted by Bee on

Starts out powerful, yet still manages to creep up on you. Cold and door-slammingly unrepentant to the end.

Bee

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Thanks Bee! I really wanted to portray that attitude of unrepentence despite being so in the wrong. Glad I got some across!

 

Submitted by scratch on

Ouch.

 

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Indeed.

 

Submitted by celticman on

carol anne duffy, we know who you are. You're in good company, Only it's bad company. We know who you are. 

 

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Good spot! When I first wrote this poem it was in third person as I was afraid of putting it in first and being able to still show the person is paying for their crimes. The switch to first person was due to Duffy's 'Stealing'.

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

You've got it all in there really - the self justification and the detachment, and the powerful images of what that leads to.  This is chilling and heartbreaking.

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Thanks airyfairy. I've seen a few of these people and their sheer lack of acknowledgement that they've done something wrong is staggering.

 

Submitted by love_writing on

As other people have commented this hits hard. Very emotive portrayal, provoked an angry response in me. Will never understand child cruelty.

Well done on poem of the week- much deserved!

love_writing

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Cheers love_writing. When an adult abuses a child it is one of the very few times I feel physical violence against the perpetrator is justified.

 

Submitted by VeraClark on

It's so unremarkable these days. That's what troubles me. A brave piece and perspective, a voice that is rarely heard and no restraint on your punches. Image of split pomegranate is tragically beautiful and gutting at the same time. That sounds as if I'm endorsing a faceful of split lips.I'm not - you've made the image artful.

 

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Thank Vera. You always worry with poems like this that social services will come knowcking on the door accusing me of things! Glad the message is there and artful in some way.

Abuse is more and more commonplace nowadays. Before I joined teaching I foolishly believed it was a thing of the past but it still festers.

 

Submitted by jolono on

Horrible subject but well executed in this piece LC79. Like Vera, the pomegranate line for me is the most powerful.

 

Submitted by scratch on

Yep, that's the line.

 

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Cheers jolono, scratch and Esmerelda. I'm very proud to see my work up on the homepage.

 

Submitted by Aresem on

They tell you that you'll be taken away to a place where nobody will love you.

Emotional stuff, this deserves a gold cherry.

Submitted by london_calling79 on

Thank you Aresem. Lying becomes a way of life.

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Powerful, moving and chilling. Can not look away from these words, they haunt. The innocence of children needs to be defended and you bring that fact home beautifully.

Penny4athought