Could Sing No More [rev.] Poem by Margaret Alice Second

I'm shocked after learning what early voice training meant
for Charlotte Church, how she strained to keep her ‘young
girl' voice until she could sing no more; music teachers and
opera singers explained the danger of polyps and injured
vocal chords: - Jackie Evancho only aspires to be a singer

Of ‘popera' - pop & opera combined, microphone-relayed
cross-over songs that rake in cash which, wisely invested,
means millions; so as money & fame overrate pure sound
excellence making a voice carry to the ends of an opera
house, all physical threats of ruined muscles and vocal

Chords are unimportant & her guardians listen to no-one;
Amira Willighagen took that route too, straining her voice,
jawbones vibrating to imitate mature sound; I hope her
parents will spare her on reading why she should stick
to age-related music; little girls dancing on their toes

Before they are old enough for classical ballet ruin their
ankles & feet forever while young boys playing baseball
are prevented from throwing curving balls for fear of injury
and inflammation - how many kids must be ruined before
parents will take care of them instead of destroying their

Youth for the sake of wealth, glamour and fame; even my
childhood was soured by my reading books written for the
mature reader, I took every example of iniquity to heart &
lived in fear of making a mess - too afraid to do anything
at all, denying myself love and romance having read of

Disastrous consequences of unbridled emotions, nobody
could stop me as I read insatiably - and I had to as home
was filled with aggressive, bitter and irrational parents -
who made up for it all with music & books & I love them
for it, but the moral is:

Supply kids with age-related stimulation and activities -
otherwise they acquire vulnerabilities beyond their age,
which inures the beauty of pure self-discovery slowly
maturing into emotions that create a beautiful life …