Rotting grin

Eager and bony hands

Hungry eyes

You’re 6 when it first happens

You still believe in Santa

You’re at arts-‘n-crafts day camp

When you leave the Sesame Street table

Because you need to use the bathroom

The one next to the playground

You stroll along

humming a song you heard in a commercial

When you see him outside the chain link fence

He’s holding a small camera

And waving to get your attention

You make your first mistake

And make your way over to him

You’re too young to know better

“Hello! What’s your name?”

You kick a pebble next to your sneakers

“My name is Kate, I like your camera.”

He laughs, and you see his teeth

They’re grimy and uneven

It’s enough to make you almost miss his hooded eyes

The same that keep glinting with something you’re too little to identify

When you’re older, you’ll recognize it as hunger

“You’re a pretty little girl, could I take some pictures of you?”

You nod, knowing that this is your chance to show off your brand new WALL-E shirt

He gestures for you to sit, and then asks for you to lay on your side

He makes you pose in a lot of different ways

And you wonder why he’s grinning so widely

When you put your hands between your thighs, like you’re told

After a while, you remember you came out here to use the toilet

You ask the man:

“Can I go now? I need to pee.”

He chuckles, but doesn’t actually say anything

You repeat yourself, a little louder this time

“Can I go now?”

He sighs, and takes one last photo

“Alright.”

You walk to the restroom, away from the man who saw your round face and unruly hair

And found it all more alluring then any women

When you’re older, you’ll think back on this moment

Horrified at what he could be doing with those pictures

How he had looked into your innocent eyes

And had only seen a call for him

To use his camera like a third eye

Drinking you in

Motivated by desires you didn’t even know existed

Fueled by perversity you wouldn’t have been able to comprehend

It was a classic case of the maiden and the monster

Except not really

You weren’t nearly old enough to be the maiden

And he was worse than a monster