The pictures are heartbreaking.
Infants and toddlers
Grown impossibly thin,
Wispy almost,
As if they were blades of grass
Tied together to make dolls.
The expressions on their faces
Are utterly innocent.
They are not crying.
Their enormous eyes
Are looking directly at us.
They are calm,
They do not weep,
Do not sob,
But quietly plead,
Telling us that they don’t know
Why they are suffering,
Telling us they don’t know
How to help themselves,
And asking us if we would please
Do something to make it better.
“Please,” they soundlessly implore ,
“Please take care of us.”
What kind of nightmare world
Are we living in,
Where starving children intentionally
Is used as a weapon?
What kind of ugly existence is this
That is dominated
By the most grotesque of thugs
Accumulating great wealth and power
No matter the cost
In order to accumulate
More wealth and power?
How do we look into
The deep and baffled eyes
Of a dying child
And explain that
To the “leaders of the free world”
Her life does not matter?
