Danielle

The image of her mother
But incapable of the same denial
You watched her
From your bathroom window

Forsaking things you could not have
You focused on innocence
Rejected by the adult
You turned on a child

Her childhood and her life
You destroyed for lustful anger
Mother’s rejection you revenged
With unimaginable evil

After the atrocity
You bargained for her body
While searchers combed hills
You sought a devils deal

Blond haired and blue eyed
The lost child haunts us
Crushed hopes assaulted
Shattered under a tree in Dehesa

The parent’s fears realized
Communities spirits fallen
While you sat in court
And said the lie “not guilty”

Only you will know how long
She cried and suffered
While you drove the back roads
From sea to desert sands

Were you convinced
Before her end
Did her feeble struggles
Reach what you call a soul?

-Dedicated to the memory of Danielle Van Dam