A poem
He hugged her often
Pinched her cheeks
Until they turned red
How they hurt
But she laughed heartily
The happy unbridled laughter
Of an innocent child
Who knows no evil
She longed to be held by him
Lifted up, thrown high in the air
Caught deftly, oh that tickled
She shrieked with laughter, like tinkling bells
She felt comforted in his touch
Warm, secure, loved
The touch of a caring hand
A Good Touch, though she didn’t know it then
And then there was the other man
Who arrived every Sunday
To help with some chores
And hung about the house all day
He too hugged her
And pinched her cheeks
But she always cried
Her breath caught and face turned red
She hated his touch, a Bad Touch
Though she didn’t know it then
He touched her in strange places
Where no one else did
She could not explain this
How could she
She could barely string a sentence together yet
But she did what she could
Screamed loudly when he came close
Mommy always came quickly and saved her
Pulled her away from his clutches
Every time mommy saved her
She heard him laugh
A wicked, evil laugh that made her want to cry
She is much older now
She knows Good Touch and Bad Touch
She looks at herself back then
And marvels at how she knew
Even as a child, with all her innocence
She is glad mommy was there to save her
Each time, without fail
But she breaks down when she thinks of those days
There was no one to save mommy
No one was there to help her mommy
From the Bad Touch of the bad man
Kids are supposed to be sensitized by their parents towards good touch and bad touch. Not all kids have access to this education though. Consider some poor families where single moms have to bring up their kids. These moms have to go through all kinds of oppression to provide for their kids and give them two meals a day.
In such circumstances, many predatory men use the opportunity and the dire needs of these single moms to their advantage. There are many stories of such brave women who offered themselves up in order to provide for their kids.
Anu Anniah Writes 