Stolen

They say innocence is stolen,

But it is worse than that.

Things that are stolen can usually be

Replaced. And even if there is

An emotional attachment, stolen items remain

Present in our memories.

No, this is something more.

Innocence is not just lost or stolen.

It is slowly lured out into a dark alley by a 

New friend with a puppy.

It is alluded to after a movie in a dark room 

At the youth pastor’s house.

It is dismembered and thrown away by the nice doctor who 

Hid the other options from a child.

It is caressed by the girl who knows too much too soon because

Her innocence was more than stolen.

It is twisted to make a child feel broken and like they are in the wrong body.

In. The. Wrong. Body.

When all the child should do is sing and play in the sun.

It isn’t just stolen.

No, it is more like an alien abduction. 

One minute it is there, the next it isn’t.

And no one ever saw it leaving your body. 

We might not even notice, if it weren’t for the 

Raw, open wound that gets opened and reopened

A thousand times before we know what it is called. 

“I lost my innocence.”

No, you didn’t.

It was ripped out by the one with the comforting smile and

The assurance that

This is love. 

by Aimee Wray