The death of innocence

By: JoJo Ball

A young girl stood there alone

in the perfect meadow of pink and orange

when a slender being approached.

It’s mouth on fire, it’s tongue burning with lies,

It’s eyes hypnotizing her with every whisper.

The father’s cancerously severe instructions

rang in her mind like the golden bells

on the pearly gates from where she came,

and they raced through her mind

like a rabbit at a dog race.

The ash from the snake’s mouth clouded her judgment

and drowned out the warnings of the father.

She took a bite and looked back

only to find her perfect meadow fenced in and restricted

as she was banished from the wondrous, green land.