Suffer The Little Children
by S. M. Chen
Yesterday I read
of a clever man
who knew just
what to do
when his child of four
did something bad.
He spanked her
(what's wrong with that?
he'd been spanked and switched
as a boy and look
how well he turned
out - after the war
a model citizen
when doors were open).
She would not cry.
He held her down
and beat her
but she would not cry.
So he beat her some more
(she had to learn
who was boss
and a little respect
for her elders,
certainly her father;
what was the world
coming to, after all?)
but still she would not cry.
So he beat her until
he was tired.
When he stopped
to rest, she said,
"I'm sorry, Daddy,"
then lay there and
died without shedding
even one tear.
Today I read
of a woman who
left two small children
in the back of a car
with windows open
but a crack.
Smart woman, she
knew how to keep
the children safe
from strangers
and save paying
a sitter. Besides,
she'd be gone
but a short while,
this being summer
and the day
seasonably warm.
They'd be fine,
she said, having done
this many times before.
When she returned
(how could she
have known a friend
would stop to chat
and while away the time
on matters of importance?),
the children, still in the car,
were sprawled on the floor,
very, very still.
Tomorrow I'll read
of a childcare center
(one of renown,
in a good part of town)
where men and women,
by treats and threats,
abuse the children
left in their charge
day after day,
week after week,
month after month,
and some of the wounds
(mostly the deep ones,
those to the spirit)
that they inflict
will never heal.
The wounds fester,
scabs never forming
(who gave them a chance?
we tried, Your Honor;
we did the best we
could with this group
of unruly youngsters;
and we were short
on staff and we deserve
to turn a little profit
too, don't we?)
and some of the abused
grow up to abuse;
and I ask myself,
"When will the cycle end?"
And when I read,
the print gets blurred
because of tears
of rage and sorrow.
But, like yesterday's child,
I do not cry.
*
Too much reading,
like a little learning,
can be a dangerous thing.