Portraits Of Innocence Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Innocently skipping along,
In a quiet neighborhood...
Munching on 'Skittles'.
To then be approached,
By a big bad man...
With a gun in his hand,
Hunting down a child to kill...
Is the best depiction of Norman Rockwell.
Norman Rockwell had 'skillz'.

However...
A teen built like a full grown man,
Snooping to sneak in between buildings...
Where break-ins and fear takes place.
And with intent to burglarize to feed a drug habit.
Is not what people choose to see exhibited.
No matter how truthful,
The reality on display everyday this is.

It's all over the place to ignore yet defend.
It's all over the place,
Dishonesty and a lack of discipline.
It's all over the place,
Disrespect and neglect but yet...
Portraits of innocence,
Are what people expect exhibited.
And will protest to the end to get.