Children Should Laugh Poem by moon batchelder

children should laugh and play hopscotch,
swim in the lake and jump rope.
their faces behold only love all around them,
their souls should delight and feel hope.

their teachers at school should be caring,
their parents be gracious and wise.
their days should be filled with the rapture of growing,
and promise should glint in their eyes.

and as they're approaching adulthood,
their dreams should begin to unfold.
the journey ahead should invite them and welcome
each vision their hearts can behold.

we all know that that's how it should be,
so how can such nightmares take place?
and things go so wrong that our young become victims
or monsters, their inocense gone without trace?

and how can we live with the horror
of dangers our children must fear,
not just from the stranger that lurks in dark corners
but a gun in the hands of a peer.

we all know such things shouldn't happen,
and atrosities daunting as these,
seem omens demanding our utmost attention;
symptoms of deadly disease.

our children, their plight as a warning,
who start out secure in the womb,
too often become mere statistics. - their stories
sufficient to signal our doom.