Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Contest

The Day I Grew Up
by Kelly Ann Malone

First Contest
third Place

Scarcely fourteen, a nestling, I was told she was ill. 
The first exposure to sorrow 

The borders of sanctuary became vague and misleading 
Tongue-tied and vulnerable, I kept silent 
Fear this deep was completely foreign to me 

Unable to see her the day of surgery 
Apparently children haven't proper manners 
Told to go outside her window and she would appear 

Five children gathered on chilly blades of grass 
Eyes gazing upward as if we were awaiting an apparition 
Then she emerged. She looked serene in her pale blue robe 
She waved to us with confidence, but we all felt the looming peril 

The asperity of her treatment left her ravaged 
She was close to death. We suddenly obtained manners 
I was led into her room with my brothers and sisters 
No warning. No briefing. Only stern threats from an overworked nurse 
There she lay. What did they do to her? 

Her head was shaven clean, revealing the shape of her skull 
A patch on her eye and a tube protruding from her nose 
A shocking vision. She was conscious so I kept still 

Forbidden from crying, my throat became sore as I forced back saliva 
Nauseous and horrified, but somehow able to keep my composure 
Instinctively I knew she waited for my reaction to her condition 
So I matured, right in front of her, and assured her that she looked fine.