I am an incest survivor,
and yet,
I know even with healing
I'll never forget
The feelings I've had:
the shame and the guilt,
That caused a wall
around me to be built.

I put it up high,
year by year, brick by brick.
It is ever so tall
and even more thick.

At the innermost place
Of that shelter, you see,
Is a scared little girl,
who has never been free
To wander in innocence,
Roam in little girl's glee,
But instead she's been made
to wear a mask of maturity.

As with any mask, hers
slipped all of the time,
But she'd set it back
quickly;
She could not tell her crime!

How could a 5-year-old
Know without doubt
She'd no reason to carry
That burden about?

I'm trying to reach her,
let that little girl know
She can drop the bad feelings.
She deserves, now, to grow.

I deserve my life to be
free from the guilt
That caused me to have that
protective wall built.

07/07/1992

Posted on 11/03/2010
Copyright © 2025 Ann Mills