8. Innocence [100 poems challenge]

8.          Innocence

A dark-haired child,
Relaxed and breathing steadily,
Eyes closed,
Tousled head on the pillow,
Face in repose
Lit softly by the faint hall light
Filtering past the shadow
Watching from the door.

I’m sure my mother knew
I wasn’t really asleep,
And that tucked beneath the blankets
A torch and book awaited her departure
So that I could finish one more chapter,
Maybe two.

27 April 2013

Comments: I struggled with this one. I just couldn’t get an angle that I felt I could use. I had mental images of a newborn baby, I’d just watched the last episode of Season 5 of Inspector Gently where the incorruptible Gently is framed, and I also had “Who? Me?” running through my mind. I think I like the idea that finally came, however, although it’s hard to tell whether the “innocence” theme would be discernible without the title (except as the opposite of the rather obvious “guilty” that is present).

Themes to come: 9. Drive; 10. Breathe Again; 11. Memory; 12. Insanity; 13. Misfortune

Explanation about the 100 poems challenge here.