A Child’s Innocence Lost

In the quiet of a fading day,

A child sat on the grassy sway,

Underneath the sprawling trees,

With whispers carried by the breeze. 

Sunlight danced in golden streams,

As laughter wove through silver dreams,

But shadows crept, a dampened sigh,

For innocence would soon comply. 

A crackling voice, a distant shout,

Echoed tales of fear and doubt. 

A scrape of stone, a shifting gaze,

What once felt safe now lost in haze. 

They watched the world through wide-eyed view,

Where kindness thrived, and skies were blue,

But truth emerged, a harsh refrain,

The world could hold a thread of pain. 

A friend’s sad face, the tear’s descent,

A fleeting moment, a heart’s lament. 

“Why do some win, and some must fall? 

Is love so fragile? Can it stall? ”

They wandered through the labyrinth hall,

Where laughter fades and shadows crawl. 

Innocence slipped like grains of sand,

As they reached out, but lost their hand. 

The games once played in fleeting light,

Now tangled stories of wrong and right. 

A fleeting trust in gentle hearts,

Torn apart by sorrows' starts. 

Yet in that ache, a seed was sown,

A whisper of strength, the seeds were grown. 

For though the world could wound and break,

Within that hurt, a will to awake. 

So with each step, they’d carry forth,

The lessons learned, the tangled worth. 

A flicker of hope in shadows cast,

Emerging stronger from the past. 

And though the pain may come to stay,

Innocence lost would find its way,

For from the ashes, truth would bloom,

And love could conquer all the gloom.