By Florence Heyhoe
Warrenpint, County Down, Northern Ireland
If this town were a set of teeth, I would recommend a visit to the dentist for it is full of gaps. However, the hotel on the main street sparkles like a polished molar, after a recent renovation. It seems out of place amidst this yawning emptiness.
The people I knew as a child long dead: the schoolteacher who beat and threatened the children (including my brother), the grocer brothers in their brown coats … who were fond of young boys, the man, from the tick tock shop where the musty smell lingered.
Many buildings that were once businesses have been demolished. There is a library where the church used to be, and the mission hall has been converted to housing. The pharmacy where my father worked now dispenses fish and chips. I remember all the outhouses out the back and a maze of rooms upstairs where he photographed children.
So many nightmares…trying to escape.
the colours
of spring now
vacant eyes
First Published: cattails April 2024
Resources
Northern Ireland Domestic/Sexual Abuse Resources
Hotline for men who have suffered sexual abuse https://www.survivorsuk.org/
Also see, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, available on Amazon