INCEST
© 2007, All rights reserved
Performed at No Shame Theatre, Roanoke, Va, 7 Dec 2007
This is a two person poem. The indented portion should be done by a woman, the rest by the child.
The DNA was evidence,
And I'm the unique consequence:
A child of forbidden desire.
My one sibling is my mother.
Child of consensual incest -
The rumors, whispered and suppressed
Were true, leaving me no escape:
A child of statutory rape.
The last child of my grandfather
Yes, my mother is my sister.
From this place that I am within
My brain locks. I think of their sin.
The whirlpool of pain does not rest
This is my existential test!
I always knew there was something,
Hidden, unspoken, a blighting.
They'd hidden the awful secrets.
Now I wonder, were there any regrets?
Yet, I'm glad that I am alive
And come what may, I will survive.
The day came for confrontation
Tears fell, in pain and frustration
As mom's story slowly emerged
While powerful emotions surged
It was my twelfth birthday party
Spiked punch, sitting on daddy's knee.
It began in darkness with hugs
And was as addictive as drugs.
Twice each week we shared each other
For three years we were together.
It was our secret night time flame.
Together, we loved, with No Shame
The covert nature added spice
To our orgasmic paradise.
Then it happened, I was pregnant
Our religion was adamant.
No abortions, you would be born
Into a life of shame and scorn.
Then your dad, knowing, rescued us.
He proposed. It was marvelous.
My wedding dress was ivory
The world knew that we were only
With each other, thus we were pure
Afterwards, time passed like a blur.
He knew, but he really loved me
You were our child, our one baby.
And, simply said, he was your dad
And your father was just granddad.
This truth-telling was cathartic
It left me both angry and sick.
I must accept where I come from
And accept that mom did succumb
To that incestuous desire
That made my grandfather my sire.
Granddad's dead. Dad died long ago.
Does it still matter? I don't know,
Nor do I know whom I can tell
I'll just go on living, in Hell
Because of proscribed love and incest
Willing rape, and fiery lust.