This is a short story in a poetic form. It is based on a true story of my interaction with a victim of sexual abuse.
Many of us would prefer to not discuss the issue of sexual abuse, especially when the victim is a man. That man's drug use was a symptom of harboring his hurt and pain about his trauma. Once he released it, he was able to begin moving on.

The minute he walked
into my office,  I knew
his macho appearance
was just a facade.
His face spoke of hidden pain.

He reluctantly talked to me
about his drug addiction.
He said he didn't
really care to be there,
for he saw no way out.

We talked some more.
I wanted to know.
I wanted to hear him reveal
where it all started;
Where his darkness began.

That was when he put his head
down and started to cry.
I didn't know what to do.
For I had never seen a man
break down like this.

Then, he lifted his head.
He didn't look into my eyes.
He  looked straight at a
picture on the wall;
That of an innocent boy.

Finally, he stared into
my eyes and pointed
at the picture of the little boy.
"That is me," he said. "I've been
trapped by the shadows of my past."

Briefly, I allowed
my mind to wander.
I began to think this man
was not alone.  Others had
been where he has been.

Who are these people?
They are children; our children.
Every year, thousands of them
are being sexually abused
behind closed doors.

They are innocent victims
of someone else's wickedness.
They never asked to be born,
yet, here they are, prey to
someone else's sick mind.

How would we know,
if we can't hear them?
How would we help,
if we don't know how?
Yet, those voices murmur.

They murmur of pain and suffering.
They yearn to be freed.
For they have become
prisoners of their trauma,
bystanders of their future.

That little boy in my office
began to heal the minute
he released his burden
to someone else who cared.
His life had taken a new course.

His eyes were now opened.
He understood it
wasn't his fault.  He
admitted he did care to
be there and he felt some hope.

That boy is now a new man.
He has forgiven himself
for something that he didn't do.
He has forsaken the
horrible shadows of his past.

I realized then, our eyes and ears
we must keep opened.
Those voices of pain, we must detect.
Let's give those children a shelter
in the time of their storms.

 

© Copyright 2004 Carmel S. Victor