THE UNPROTECTED CHILD
(for “La Gringita” of Nicaragua)
She could have turned her affront
Into her own excuse for abuse;
She did not.
She could have made her scar
A keloidal cicatrix of barricades;
She did not.
She could have fused her anger
Into a spate of hate;
She did not.
She could have fixed her hurt
Like a dagger in her heart;
She did not.
She could have warped her anonymity
Into parental enmity;
She did not.
She could have dumped her violation
Onto maternal loathing;
She did not.
She could have meshed her wound
With a compassionate resolve;
That she did.
"The Unprotected Child" was included in the unpublished poetry collection Operose Hierodule of the Muse, 2008.
Dora wanted help on a book she was attempting to write about child abuse in Nicaraugua. She had been abused as a child. One part of the book was to be her story. Another part would be a general dissertation on child abuse in her country of birth; it would be based on research and field work. Several times she traveled to Nicaraugua. Another part would be a search for her father, an American who had left her and her mother alone while he returned to the United States (She did eventually find his family, but they resisted her contacts for the sake of the father's legal wife). I was her translator, editor and proofreader. Of course, I learned quite a bit about her in the process. We came to respect each other. Unfortunately, before she could complete her research, she ran low on funds and had to pause until she could find a way to finance the book. During our time working together, she never showed any bitterness (she was a mother with a teenage daughter by then), but she seemed to be driven to do something that would prevent abuse in her country of birth. Thus came the poem. I gave it to her, and she said she would add it to the book.
Her nickname in Nicaraugua was "La Gringita" (the little American), although she had been born there and Spanish was her first language. However, her American father had been of Northern European extraction, so she had fairer skin and lighter hair than anyone else in her town--therefore the nickname.
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