CRITIQUE: "MONSTER IN THE CLOSEST" BY J.M. SAVANNAH

Born beyond sanction,

schooled by the syllabus of rot,

concrete nursing him like a blunt mother,

hunger the only doctrine that holds

He learns early,

the world speaks fluently in absence

Dry mouths fire brittle syllables,

hard words misfiring like jammed pistols

We ask how such a child

fails to resemble us,

as if likeness were congenital,

as if ethics arrive unbruised,

as if belonging is not first bestowed

before it can be rehearsed

The world withdrew at inception

and later demanded virtue

a theology of perfection

measured on a crooked seesaw

What we label deviance

is memory refusing erasure

What we call monstrosity

is neglect given time and teeth

The child did not betray us.

We only met ourselves

late,

angry at the mirror,

reaching to smudge

what we cannot disown.

 © J.M. SAVANNAH INKS

-Zimbabwe

This poem, "Monster in the Closet" by J.M (Savannah Inks), is a powerful critique of societal neglect and the consequences of abandonment . It explores themes of marginalization, blame, and the cyclical nature of trauma . The tone is reflective, accusatory, and somber .