This poem is based loosely on true facts.  It has been eating at me for some time now, and so I’ve put it into words. Child abuse is not just physical,, it is emotional.  We must lift our children UP, never tear them down, lest they become the bully.

He cries, all he wants is his trike
She yells, so coarsely, berating
He wonders, “Is this what life is like?”
She sneers at him, a look, so deprecating

“Daddy! Push me on the swing”
She sighs, he’s much too busy
Playing around with gardening things
Disturbed, he hollers, in a tizzy

Tiny minds, developing,
Inside a hardened home
Why bother having children,
If they mess you up?
Surely, they will stray,
Find comfort when they roam
Eventually becoming parents
Neither worthy of a pup

Silence looms, across the neighborhood
Except the noise, coming from that house
Chastising, loudly, they shout for no good
Instead of being happy, all they do is grouse

Still, two tiny beings, afraid to say a word
Sit and stare, each dreading what’s to come
For even if they speak, they aren’t even heard
To their parent’s evil, eventually, they’ll succumb

©2020 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay