Lost Innocence

Sadness pulled him close
Drawn like a moth to a flame.
Hiding in her tresses,
He glumly peeked outside
And watched quietly as the world bustled by.

As his gaze fell upon her,
That scrawny little girl in rags
Selling flowers on the sidewalk
Vulnerable to lecherous advances,
He was transported back
To a different place,a different time.

Through the frames that flickered
In his prodigious mind castle,
He watched helplessly
As he was stripped of his innocence
Reliving every scar as if it were yesterday.

He watched his confidant
Morph into his biggest nightmare.
One that left him screaming into the darkness.

He watched helplessly as his family
Looked at him with disbelief.
“This doesn’t happen to boys” kept ringing in his ears
Over and over again, a broken tape recorder.

He watched helplessly as life went by
While he lost himself in that day
Like his life had hit pause forever.
No one seemed to notice the absence of his soul
While his body hustled in the crowd.

He watched helplessly
As he lived in constant fear.
Fear of losing what little was left of him.
So he spun a web around his heart
And covered it with a thousand thorns.

As his spirit returned
Exhausted from the daunting past,
He noticed that little girl come up to him.
A sense of protectiveness engulfed him.

The shell that he had built around
Shattered to a million pieces.
He had to take a stand.
He had to make a difference.
He wanted to save her innocence.

A significant number of victims of sexual abuse are male. What makes it even more difficult for them is the stereotype that victims of abuse are female.
Contrary to public beliefs, sexual assault can happen to anyone, irrespective of age, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Many a times male victims are more hesitant than female victims to speak out for fear of being judged harshly by the patriarchal society.

Picture Credits:Lapis-Lazuri