Prom Night by Marge Simon

In our latest poem – Prom Night by Marge Simon – karma reveals that taking advantage of a disadvantaged person can be a very bad idea. Marge is a writer, poet and illustrator (the illustration here is by Marge) whose work has appeared in multiple venues and who has won several Stokers for her poetry collections. You can find Marge at http://www.margesimon.com 

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Prom Night
by Marge Simon
 
She is lovely,
just turned fourteen
her loamshade hair
bound in baby’s breath
and wild roses,
 
secrets in her wide eyes
locked in dreams
but she cannot speak,
for she’s been mute
ever since the fire.
 
That’s what everyone thinks,
but it was just before the fire,
what set it off, that thing
her Uncle Robert did to her
while her cousins watched.
 
She remembers screaming,
until the room became white hot,
igniting the curtains,
the cries of her cousins,
and Uncle Robert’s shrieks,

​his hair and clothes aflame.
She remembers running
out the door and down the street,
the house behind her blazing,
a very long two years ago. 

After the prom that night,
her date took a detour,
thinking all along that he
would screw her, since
she could never tell.
 
That proved a very bad idea.