A Childhood in Despair

 

I was drenched

and drained in dullness

I loathed my surroundings

nearly as much as

I loathed the other

children

School was a 

frigid and hostile

environment

The moorland was

inhospitable as 

were the gossiping

biddies in their

backstreets

There was an absence

of joy, with no colour

or contrasts

I vowed when I 

came of age I

would escape to a better

place

That day came

I did not say farewell

to anyone

I had no regrets

only that my childhood

was lost

The future beckoned

as I stepped out

into a sun drenched

leafy landscape

and with it freedom

from drudgery

I offered a prayer of

thanksgiving as I entered

a verdant pastoral

vista of unassailable

beauty