|
Child Alone
By Lewis Hudson Aged 10
A child sits in the corner crying
Shivering, cold and alone
As that poor innocent child
Has been left by himself at home.
He does not speak
Nor does he smile
He just sits there blankly
Except for a whimper once in a while.
His face is dirty
And smudged from the tears
His dreams turned to nightmares
His life filled with fear.
His body is bruised
Where he has been battered
His arm hangs limply
Where the bone has been shattered.
He can't call out
As it would mean being beaten
And his body is frail
Where he has not eaten.
His mum doesn't care
His dad is long gone.
Where oh where did this child's
Life go so wrong.
His little body covered
In cigarette burns
His mum's boyfriends
Seem to line up to take turns.
Hit, kicked and smacked
He can't fight back
He just keeps on taking
Whack after whack.
Until the day he can't take no more
And his little body falls still on the floor
And then someone will utter these fateful words
Why oh why did we not do more.
Then they will stand
As they lay his tiny body to rest
Then go back to work
And say that they did their best.
While somewhere another child in the corner
Will sit at home.
Cold, shivering and hungry
Sad and all alone.
| 