German Farm House

[cornflake]

Dear God forgive me,
I loved that boy.
He filled my insides delightedly every school holiday,
scampering up and down the steps of my spine,
bouncing a ball among the flowers in my lap, reading,
making me laugh with his youth, letting me
rock him to sleep in my bosom each night.

The love we had, he and I, was strong.
Grown older, he came back to me,
nested safe and quiet in the walls of my body.
In me he nursed his mother until her death.
In me he killed a man, cut his flesh apart
and ate him;
and when after some months they came for him,
they had to force him out of my gates like a newborn

and carry him away from me down the same drive
where I used to see him as a child
running trailing his clouds towards me
away from the oncoming dark.


Hattie Samuel


Note: I was going to explain what this one is about, but I wonder if it actually stands better on its own. It's based on a true story, though.