Poetry Friday: She Didn't Mean to Do It by Daisy Fried

Ooh, I like this one -- there's a certain haunting question that isn't ever answered... it's like song lyrics, too.

Wow. The opening refrain of this poem is so sing-song and childlike, I assumed that "it" would be something like "Knocked over mommy's precious vase" when I read it.

The rest of the poem is so much darker and more serious that the mistake must be something larger than that, but the regret that I'm left with is still that little girl's. Which makes the whole thing that much more sorrowful. You know that the little girl's mommy would still love her and kiss her forehead and everything would eventually be OK, but the same can't be said for the consequences of the actions we take as adults.