Written by: Sheena Macmillan
At 12 years old they say,
“Be abstinent, that’s it!”
In sex ed class they say,
“You’ll need a mother’s wit.”
At 14 years you feel
A feeling new to you
Something new at your heel
Cherry red, so brand new.
At 16, it happens
An act you never knew.
16 and it happened
What does this mean for you?
At 17, she’s here
A baby all for you.
At 17, she’s here
Cherry red, so brand new.
He is older, 18
He left without word.
“I’m only just a teen!”
The memories are blurred.
You are 20, she asks,
“Mommy, where’s Daddy?”
She’s 2 years old, she asks,
“Do I have a Daddy?”
22, you feel it.
She always asks questions.
Can she understand it?
Just loosen the tensions?
23, you tell her,
“Your Daddy was no good.”
Will he ever know her?
If he’s out of boyhood.
Dawson's Creations Literary Journal 