I saw a toddler today
In her Dad’s starch shirt
With the hem all crumpled and creased
Like a princess’ train
His tie hung red between her legs
As she toddled to her interview
In some years’ time I saw her again
Little more than seven years of life
And already her tactile tongue
Flicked and licked
Over a friend’s lolly
And he thanked her for making it seem ever the sweeter
She was now ten when I saw her again
Her shoulders and knees had collapsed
Under three swinging toddlers and a
14 year old man
Dragging her into their riptide
And drowning her lighthouse eyes
I saw a funeral today
In her cotton-lined coffin
With her joints all bent and bruised
Her stark pubescent limbs crunched into a
Hunched lady’s fate
An unrequited present to the dirt still trapped under her soft nail
Really enjoy how inventive this poem is!