When I look back I remember children running over the fields without a care in the world
I remember not going home till Mother had called to say that tea was ready
They were innocent times, and yet, we were aware of things around us
Things that adults rarely spoke of, things that were bad and dangerous to children.
Some men’s, for it was almost always men’s, behaviour towards us was questioned
Usually answered by that person never being spoken of again
But them sometimes being seen about looking battered and bruised

That is when innocence disappears.

It’s good that this behaviour is full on in the arena for discussion and comment
And that such evil men are finally being brought to face the consequences of their actions
I was fortunate in a way, in that it happened to me only once.
I was approached in the town where I live when I was seven years old and had wandered I suppose
I was terrified when a man called me to help him in an alley way and then undid his trousers
I screamed and ran off, my elder brother and father chasing the man and giving him a thumping
It was how people handled things back then, probably a mistake as nothing was solved.

Fortunately the human condition dictates that we will never be satisfied,
and what went around then is coming around now.

©JRW2013