A Phantom In Disguise Poem by Elora Smith

Children running and playing,
Laughter fills the playground
Sun shining, sky bright blue.
Looks like a perfect day to me, but does it to you?

If you look closely you will see children hiding
And if you listen closely, you hear the children screaming.

The truth is revealed when no one is around,
The phantom rises from the ground,
Taking every boys', and every girls' dreams,
Filling the play ground with screams.

Taking their childhood right from their tiny fists,
Making them grow up
Leaving them with a childhood as blurry as a sky full of mist
Six-year olds all grown-up

You look closely again, and you realize what you see is not children playing,
But children running.
You listen closely again, and you realize what you hear is not children laughing,
But gun shots in the distance.

The truth is revealed it’s not a phantom,
It’s the War,
Not just taking hopes and dreams,
But taking families, and stealing the children’s screams.

This place, once was a playground for the young
But now is filled with the sound of guns
It was all taken away when the war begun
Stealing peoples sons

We all pray and hope
That one day it will all be done
So we can begin to cope
And be reunited with our daughters and sons.