Innocence 

My child,

Your innocence, is fresh as the morning dew,

Your smiles are flowers in the sun

Your eyes, bright twinkling stars—

Your chatter, the patter of rain!                                   

Your laughter, chimes of tinkling bells-

Your spirit, free, dancing in the wind!

My child,

Where are they taking you?  ...........

To fight against your hapless kin?

To be beasts of burden in killing fields?

As camel jockeys or human shields,

Used and abused, trafficked and sold?

To appease a hunger of a different kind!

My child,

They brought you back to me—

Quiet, tired, pale, unsmiling—

Your blank eyes gaze through me!

Your deathly silence haunts me!

I hug you, in anguish, in tears…

You have lost your childhood,

My child, you have forgotten to smile!!!

  

Susan Jacob

Chiang Mai

14/03/2013