The broken girls of the bookroom

When I was teaching, I used to manage the school library. It was here that I discovered the quiet children, both boys and girls. These kids come to hide in the library during breaks, finding the silence and seclusion here a safe haven. I discovered these kids were often fleeing bullies - either at home, or at school. I would attempt to win their trust and start to use them as monitors in the library. Many of them became hugely successful in later life. This poem is an acknowledgement of what they suffered, an attempt to let them know that I heard them, even if they never attached words to their stories.

The broken girls of the bookroom

Defenceless they stood against the HAPPENING
which threatened to envelop them
and followed them even into this tomb
where they came in search of shelter,
they the Broken Girls of the Book room.

Here they came to escape the HAPPENING
which became so big and monstrous
that they never could risk the outside
in fear its smell might be discovered on them,
they the Broken Girls of the Book room.

The HAPPENING never did quite come,
nor did the HAPPENING ever quite leave.
It simply stayed there in the background,
never present, never absent,
unspoken, yet acknowledged
with them, the Broken Girls of the Book room.

An original poem by Miekie (Marietjie Uys).

'n Oorspronklike gedig deur Miekie (Marietjie Uys).

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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