Who first stole

The light behind her eyes?

They say innocence

Comes with a thousand questions.

But I say innocence

Is a question itself.

Who first took it from her?

Who first robbed her of

Years of mindless laughter?

And why would you

Rip away someone’s innocence

As though you could

Drape it over yourself

And be the richest man

In the world?

How you could

Attempt to drink the fire

Behind someone’s eyes

As though it would

Make you young again

Is beyond the scope of

My understanding.

I am horrified

By what life has done to her.

Clinging to the threads

Of her unwound innocent mind,

She knows she can never

Be the same again.

A child dies twice,

A dancer three times.

But who, who could brutally

Murder a child

Instead of letting their first death

Happen slowly, painlessly?

Who could slaughter her trust,

Her faith in the ones she loved?

Who?