And then she licked their blood

she was a normal child
once

a pretty girl
a clever girl

and quite popular
for awhile

did I say she was clever?
oh how clever she was. . .

I didn’t have a clue
not the slightest hint

that my daughter
yes, my precious child

who played so quietly
with her friends

was doing what she did
and that they let her

that they liked the tiny cuts
she made in them

the razor-thin slices
the nicks and worse

but she was just a child
then