The police came

The postmortem done, pregnancy confirmed

Relatives poured in

Neighbours gawked

Leaving us wounded with multiple Whys.

 

Visions of…..

You as a chubby baby,

You as a naughty toddler

You as a moody teenager

You in the cusp of womanhood!

Were we strict?

Were we bad parents?

Were we unreasonable?

 

That you chose to keep your affair a secret?

The thoughts torture me as I turn and twist in my sleepless state.

You must have been lonely

You must have been afraid

Stabbed by the man you loved

And left bleeding to death!

 

I wonder what your last thoughts were

Did you even think that the father who

Could push all your demons away when you were a girl

Would have stood by you even today?

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash