Innocence

Tiny, lilting bird
kept in a cage of ribs
She fed it on dreams
and sang it love songs
And when he came,
it fluttered in her belly
and pecked at her heart,
so that it was pierced
and ached so much
she could not stand it.
And so she offered him
the fragile, winged creature
and, unknowing how to free it,
he reached into her chest,
cracked open her ribs,
and tore it from her soul.
She gave it willingly, carelessly,
to clumsy fingers
that squeezed too tight
and broke its wings,
when she had always hoped
that it would fly.

– s. Clark