Hidden

They are given options

with no solutions

so they opt out

judicial system

bulldozer that we entrust

It may come as a surprise

when a child cries,

in a mother’s arms

gentle tears wiped away

thrown away with trust

so none may bear witness

Best to hush now, we will fly

bury it deep

as if the sight offends

pretend it never was

If only the fortune teller would appear

how dark the story becomes

hidden from the light

inescapable shadow that follows 

Put it in the cycle,

spin enough times

and everything comes out

they need not the crucified to stain them

just a safe place to play

-Camille Delaquise

This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Hidden speaks to the quiet brutality of institutional failure — exposing how vulnerable lives are obscured, dismissed and recast as inconvenience when what is needed most is protection, truth and care.