The Forgotten Ones Poem by Erika Wingo

The hopelessness that weighs heavy-
On the soul
Tears that fall from sunken eyes
Bearing witness to the hunger and disease
To the pain and the death
Of both the young and the old
Frail, fragile arms
Reach out from a lonely forsaken land
Where a true blessing would be
Clean water to quench their thirst
Where too many are suffering
And too few are willing
To lend a helping hand

In poverty and sickness,
The weak and starving lie
Trapped in a place
Where it's a struggle to live
And much too easy to die
Without a voice
To call for help
Given no choice
For what they've been dealt
Desperate prayers sent up from
A dark, cruel world
Words that are meant from the heart
For the mercy of the Lord
Wails from a broken body
Where death eagerly awaits
Swinging his sharp sword

A baby's painful cry
Haunts its Mother
In the agony of her last goodbye
Her dying child staring up at her
A gaze without innocence or trust
Only fearful and betrayed eyes
Existing in such endless, utter despair
Beneath the unrelenting, scorching sun
I can hear the pleas of these poor,
Precious souls
They are the Forgotten ones