Author/illustrator of Whispers of the Goddess & The Quit Smoking Express. Graduate of the Long Ridge Writing Group & Institute for Writers

Desensitized and compromised, to a fault

Pain and suffering fade out and fade in

Back in spirals of barbed wire and spindles of glass

Spires sky high hanging corrosive thoughts that melt

Turn metal to rust

Tiny dancing demons ring around the rosy up here

And down there where they can no longer see

Where are they living now

Do they have enough to eat?

Can they breathe with me

Without me

Within me

…

A story, tiny clip of news

Portrays a party of three

Who killed the littlest one

In the hot water

In the cold water

In the slap of hands that held him

When he was first born

Didn’t they want to love him

Didn’t they want to love themselves

In the balled fist in the back of his head

Only about 1,500 days old

What demons were in there with them

When they decided to beat him to death

Not just his body

But his innocent terrified soul

His compromised dark eyes rolled back

Into white

Into a better place

…

What was the dance they did when they realized

He was dead

By their own hands

By their black hard hearts

By the demons that spoke up loud and clear

Both gluttonous and deprived

Both rich in agony

Poor in compassion

Visions of this little boys eyes

Will never leave me

I knew it the moment I saw the set of three

The set of six eyes

Engaged in this way, in the brutal story

I read on the Internet

The portal to the world in which no one is sure

If what they are reading

Is real or false

But this one.

This one was truth

I saw it in his petrified eyes

My mother and father are monsters

Who created and destroyed him

And now

He is at peace

He is now free

Unafraid

Away, and safe

Removed from the hatred of the circle

Where the next child is only weeks away

From being born

Comments

Carole Anzolletti (author) from Connecticut, USA on February 11, 2018:

Louise, thank you for being so kind to take the time to be here and compliment my poetry.

Louise Powles from Norfolk, England on February 09, 2018:

That's such a lovely poem. The words are beautiful.

Carole Anzolletti (author) from Connecticut, USA on February 07, 2018:

Divakar, thanks so much for stopping by to read and compliment!

divakar3368 from Maldives on February 07, 2018:

Nice lines with pretty deeper meaning.

Carole Anzolletti (author) from Connecticut, USA on February 07, 2018:

Robin, thank you for taking the time to share your feelings about my words. I accept them as a deep compliment and I have not written in vain xoxo

Robin Carretti from Hightstown on February 07, 2018:

So much pain is through your words it was so tormentingly haunted by what I felt in my head how people can control everything with dismembering innocence

Carole Anzolletti (author) from Connecticut, USA on February 06, 2018:

Fredrick, your comment is gratefully accepted and appraised for its awesome sentiment and consideration. I do very much appreciate your time taken to read this. Some very haunting images and words must have their place. I try to harness them the best way I can when they threaten to overrun my mind.

Fredrick Vanek from New York on February 06, 2018:

My God...that was powerful. To anyone who came far too close too often to the fate of that '1500 day old', it speaks volumes to the soul. Thank you for that. All those little ones that didn't make it thank you, if they can, I'm sure.

Carole Anzolletti (author) from Connecticut, USA on February 06, 2018:

Frank thank you for seeing into all of it, for appreciating what writers must do in order to process the depths that churn in the deep abyss of a poet.

Frank Atanacio from Shelton on February 06, 2018:

wow the transparency of the drama in your work stands out.. love the read.. poem read almost like a prayer.. awesome