it happened again

It’s not like it was this thing that happened
It’s a thing that keeps happening
When little girls do cartwheels at the park
When a ponytail becomes untied
When princesses arrive on the front of a birthday card
When a mom exclaims about the price of dance class
When kindergarten starts

It’s this horrible thing that happened
That I’m always remembering happened
It is back then, it is now, and it is in whatever will come