Two young curious eyes peer out a red veil
To find next to her an overly ripened male
Her skin glows while his skin rots
There is music, there is food but love there is not
A newly forming woman only her face is shown
His ageing body takes the shape of his bones
He can’t run nor walk like her body can
She is a newborn with a dead man
The celebrations continue but she remains alone
The clock keeps ticking her fate unkown
The corpse not so lifeless cheers with other men
All around a century old while she not even ten
But then they all leave and silence fills the night
Taking her patterned hand firmly he leads her out of the light
His holy promise broken, her body cold as frost
A bedroom door closes, a childhood forever lost
– Saduni Wanniarachchi
(Winner of the Young Poets Network ‘Gothic’ challenge)