ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

A Shadow on the Stair

A shadow waits
at the head of the stair
by a silent room that’s stark and bare,
and a door that whispers a quiet threat
that childhood dreams
will not be met.

On a well-worn carpet like dirty snow
a nightmare looms,
and then I know
the terror that hides in darkened rooms
where sunshine days
are robbed of light,
and brutal ways
are veiled from sight.

At a table set for a wholesome meal
they nod and smile
as their hearts conceal
what his hands defile.
And the white lace drifts in the morning breeze,
a shroud for an ache
that will never ease,
well out of sight
and out of mind
in the cream-brick suburbs of the blind.

© David 18/06/15

Nice one David - the dark dirty secret that hides in suburbia that no one ever talks about. sensitive handling of it. I like the contrast between the white lace being something light, airy, innocent, clean and summery and the contrast in the next line a shroud for an ache that will never ease the exact opposite.

You made great use of the prompts.

Dirty secrets covered up and a family in denial - wow, this is really clever David. I agree with Maureen about those lines showing contrast, as well as the 'well worn carpet like dirty snow'. I like 'in the 'cream-brick suburbs of the blind' too - a line that cleverly shows rather than tells. This poem gave me the shivers, and so it should.

Frighteningly good David.
Wazza

Haunting and sobering, David - crafted with your usual finesse.

Cheers, Shelley

Thank you. Yes, it's all those things...the dark, dirty, frightening, sobering secret that is a terrible reality in an unknown number of lives. If it does become public (and that's a big "if"), it's often only many years later, precipitated by some related trauma. It's one of those areas where victims can be afraid to speak out because they feel so alone and fear no-one will ever believe them.

David

So true, David. I have first-hand knowledge of a really sad case of extended child abuse where someone abused his position as friend and mentor to a number of teenage boys. I was a teenager too and I knew this man quite well, but thankfully I was not touched, nor did I know of the abuse at the time. I was lucky - I was a girl and he wasn't interested in girls.

I am 60 this year - and I am still hearing about the ongoing sad effects of this man's poisonous influence on those young men. Broken marriages, psychological problems and other traumas are still being suffered.

So sad - and he got away with it. He is no longer alive, but he was never brought to justice for what he did. It wasn't until after he died that the truth came out.

It's a subject that too many people shy away from.

Carolyn Cordon from the Adelaide Plains Poets has published a book "Damaged Children, Precious Gems". It recounts her own experience of child abuse and is a powerful and sobering account.

Shelley

The stinging reality of a silent pain!
Trish

Shelley: Yes, the investigations into various institutions like the Catholic Church have brought to light a considerable number of very disturbing allegations, but many perpetrators have died, which must leave the victims without any sense of justice. Even if they did complain at the time, chances are they were not believed or simply ignored. Thank you for the reference to Carolyn's book...I didn't know about that.

Trish: Thank you..."silent pain" is very appropriate.

David

Excellent David

I’ve been thinking for some time; wouldn’t it be great to have a short poem competition.
Say 16 – 18 line limit (2x4 2x6 4X4 3x6 or 2x8 stanza’s)
I think it would attract a lot more writers and the poems would also be more appealing to many of the general public who are put off by long poems.
You only have to read poems posted here on homework to see some really nicely written poems.
I don’t know if such a Comp. takes place anywhere at the present or not; and finding someone willing to run such a comp could be a problem of course?

Anyway what are your thoughts on the idea.

Terry