For Children Poem by Dash Mcpeek

For children one and all, big and small,

Who tried to run but had to fall

Who longed to laugh but had to cry

Who yearned to live but had to die

Who cried out, who broke the silence

Who endured the vice and violence

Who had to be brave, who had to be strong

When wrong was right and right was wrong

Who went to bed hungry, who went to school crying

Who jumped off of bridges, who welcomed dying

Whose nightmares were real and came in the day

Who thought it's suppose to be this way

Who were broken and bruised, bloody and battered

Whose hopes have been dried up and dreams have been shattered

Who wet in their beds and are left with the blame

Who long to be loved and are covered with shame

Who everyone knows but no one will call it

Whose pictures are carried in nobody's wallet

Whose advocates are missing with no alibies

Who never were rocked to sweet lullabies

Who rarely are kissed or hugged or held tight

Who wake up in terror alone in the night

Who are ciphers in systems, and ghosts in the day

Who do not laugh or sing or play

Who are precious to no one and left all alone - -

And for those who lie sleeping in gardens of stone. Is