God Help The Children Poem by Gillian Commerford

the abused
the battered
the beaten
the molested
the raped
the murdered.
I see them daily
in the newspapers
on the tv screen
in the streets
innocent faced and pure
stained by the sins of their elders.
This is not what life promised them.

Cover their faces
place their tiny bodies
in tiny coffins
bury them in tiny graves
while their mothers weep.

We should all be weeping
Do not blame only their abusers
the ones who beat them
molested them
raped them
tortured them
killed them.

Blame us all.
A country that cannot look after its children
has no right to call itself free.
God save the children-
God save us all.