Taken There

You know
as nausea 
creeps in

like an
old 
record
in a jukebox
sets
to
the
tune
of
choice

the memory 
comes
back

9 or 10

spectator
in a classroom
chair

a witness

of horror

seeing 
her 
groped

As a rat
I spoke
up

nothing happened

fell to deaf ears

a needle prick
of nastiness 
flowed
through
my
veins

vicariously victimized 
with
every whimper

a dark place
created
for  special 
kids

 the one
though
with triple digits
absorbed the 
terror 
at a greater
level

never been quite
right
since 

every time 
I go
after
these monsters 

I see the face

that takes
me there