Write so people will listen....

There are so many things going on in our world today. Why not write what you know and write with purpose? I have an enormous respect for children and those that are less fortunate than I. I only hope this poem creates a stir in you and you take up arms to be that voice for someone other than yourself.

 Kaleidoscope

Frail, pixie-like

            and born to dream

                        and dance.

            Confined

to her mechanical bed

            at Saint Jude

                        still smiling sweetly.

The rope

            burns

                        as he makes

                                    a decision

                                                to end the taunting.

The sign

            hammered into

                        the soft earth

            after a soggy Kentucky rain.

                        Another family

                                    and their emptied

                                                American dream

                                    turns into

                        a cramped home

            made by Ford.

Handcuffs press into her

            swollen wrists

                        sitting, chin buried

                                    in her chest

                                                a second offense.

                                    Her baby

                        at home with

            daddy, who bruises.

                        She only needed an escape

            from the unemployment line

and the boy who said

            I Love You, but lied

                        and only left purple on her skin

                                    and made her baby cry.

Another night,

            alcohol brushing the back

                        of his throat

                                    drowning in the

                                                memory of her

                                                            and the way she

                                                                        smiled

                                                                        before

                                                                        her body

                                                                        sank  

                                                                        further

                                                                        into the

                                                                        ground         

                                                                                    and people

                                                                                                walked

                                                                                                            away, already forgetting.

Humanity still feels,

BUT

is afraid

            to stand up for children,

                        is judgmental

                                    of criminals society has created.

                                    Humanity still feels,

                                    BUT

                                                it’s time to give

                                                            each life a voice.