The book glared at me from the bed,
Angry at being thrown down
But easily forgiving.
It looked up innocently, inviting me
To pick it up once again.

I shivered and turned away.
The words I’d just read had jumped into my mind,
A white-hot brand on my memory.
The sentences had pounded through the
Fragile glass that protected my ignorance, my happiness.
Now it lay shattered in the corners of my mind
Letting the book steal the treasure once guarded.

Never had the thoughts of man left me as I was now,
“In the depths of despair” as Anne would say, for
Learning of the passions and actions of the world.
My enlightened mind was darkened by the
Horrible capabilities that I now knew every human had.

I put the book on the shelf as it laughed at my naivety.
It knew, like me, that the glass was broken forever
And my mind, like an exhumed body, would be
Devoured upon again and again.
And my ignorance, was stolen forever.