For Dora

For Dora
On why Children become Goths



I welcome the painful children
Sleek and sulking.
They will come and sit
Their eyes dead and bored

And they will invariably brighten
When they see the vampire
Within my walls.
The vampire has been their companion
As it has been mine.
How sad to see the path of pain
Ever repeated
And the shelter we have chosen
In desperation
How symptomatic of our condition.

I know the truth and depth
Of their pain
It doesn’t make mine worse
Nor more acceptable.

A furtive acknowledgement
Is all I’ll give them
In spite of their eagerness and despair
I am busy learning and looking good
If you please
None of us will escape its personal monster
Anyway.

What is this curse we have chosen
Over those which crucified us?
Are all lost children lured
To the Vampire’s dwelling?
The magical fanged piper…