They Condemn Your Innocence
after Spencer
If you tiptoe over all the decay,
up the grand staircase you chased your siblings
what feels like only yesterday and stay
your course when wood will crack. Each step will bring
you farther back into a childhood where
your soul remains behind barbed wire, stitched shut
curtains baring fresh bloodstains you must tear
to return there again. You must confront
your demons to find the seraphim hidden
inside the undefiled dollhouse. It waits
exquisitely for its unbidden
mistress to finally repudiate
subjugation for the imminence
of interloping on your own innocence.
Kristin Garth is a Pushcart, Rhysling nominated sonneteer and a Best of the Net 2020 finalist. Her sonnets have stalked journals like Glass, Yes, Five:2:One, Luna Luna and more. She is the author of many books of poetry including Crow Carriage (Sweet Tooth Story Books) and The Stakes (Really Serious Literature) and the editor of seven anthologies. She is the founder of Pink Plastic House a tiny journal and co-founder of Performance Anxiety, an online poetry reading series. Follow her on Twitter: (@lolaandjolie) and her website kristingarth.com
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