TROUBLE AT TEN YEARS OLD

by Susan L. Pollet


Raped at ten—just when
The only option was to
Cross a state line for
Treatment—past the time
Allowed in one place but
Not another—new doctor
Trouble at ten
Just when she should have 
Been making friendship
Bracelets and growing crystals
She had to tell four times who
Had snatched her off her bike
And pulled down her unicorn
Cotton Carter’s underwear
And squeezed the life into her
Trouble at ten
Doctor examining her there
Where he did it and bloodied
The unicorn’s horn
Trouble at ten
Raped at ten but now no baby
To take care of because
The Doctor helped to take
Back her life from
Trouble at ten


* * * * *

Susan L. Pollet is an author, artist, advocate for women’s and children’s rights, rewired lawyer, proud mother and grandmother, and world traveler. She is a past president of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association and past Vice President of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. She is currently the co-chair of the Domestic Violence Committee for Wbasny.