Lamb to the Slaughter

A Poem by: Rae Calkins

I was not the bad guy I was not the villain who broke your heart you know I tried to do everything for you but I was a child compared to you you were a predator and I a lamb led to the slaughter.

I had been taught my entire life how to be a lamb self sacrifice be agreeable quiet doing as I’m told.

And so when you came along you smelled my vulnerability like a shark smells blood from miles away.

I was 19 when we met in that place you were in your 40s and 3 years later I was only 22.

I had hardly lived yet like a flower just beginning to bloom and you had been alive for almost half a century.

You waited for 3 years as a predator waits for unsuspecting prey you filled my head with lies you sent me lavish love messages your words were like sweet honey laced with poison and with them you spun beautiful spiderwebs around me a prison to keep me trapped

You saw the kindness in my eyes and knew that you could take advantage of that you knew I would do everything I could to save you

I sent you hundreds of dollars so you could move to a different state I walked you through calling homeless shelters I held your hand step by step

I thank the universe every day that I realized before it was too late after all of your bullshit I was done with it

And I thank the universe every day that I never let you move in with me because I know that if I had the abuse would have only become worse as you let the mask fall and revealed the predator beneath

When I broke up with you your best friend messaged me to curse me for breaking your heart but I was over 20 years younger than you I was a lamb, unknowing and you a predator bearing its fangs drool dripping from its teeth as it closes in on its prey.

And just like the predator with blood dripping from its teeth you tell yourself that you are not in the wrong you convince yourself that you are the victim as you tear yet another defenseless lamb to shreds and trample another barely budding flower into the ground

I am not the villain in your story Kira I was too young to know and you were a master in the art of manipulation sometimes I wonder do you still prowl around lying to yourself telling yourself that you are the victim everyone always leaves everyone always hurts you while you are leaving crumpled bodies in your wake while you are stained with the blood of your victims while you leave behind a trail of the souls you sucked dry

Tell me have you found some other innocent soul? Some kind hearted lamb full of naive trust Someone who will believe you when you tell them Your story of woes How everyone leaves How you are loved by none Someone who will look at you with eyes full of light.

And tell me, Kira, what lie will you tell yourself this time? How will you convince yourself that you are the victim? As you suck the lifeblood from everyone you prey on Do you still truly believe you have done nothing wrong? Or do you no longer bother to hide the truth from yourself?

Trust me when I say Even a predator will face karma one day you cannot run forever from your sins they will catch up with you they will drag you down and you will be drowned by the shadows of your victims.

Mark my words I am not the naive young lamb I once was I see through your lies looking back now I see the truth as clear as day.

(Image created using Canva)