Mommy can you hear me

A poem I wrote about a news report of a abondoned child.

This is the news story that inspired me to write "Mommy can you hear me"
The tears filled my eyes as I listened to the news report.
“Sixteen month old little girl found in condemned apartment house.”
It was so unbelievable, I just wanted to turn off the T.V. but I couldn’t.
The reporters’ words haunted me as I continued to listen. It seems as though
the little girls mother had moved in with her boyfriend, who didn’t want any
kids around, so the mother left the little girl alone in the apartment.
She told police during questioning that she would bring food for the little girl
and leave it where the little girl could get it. The last time she stopped in was
almost two weeks before. She had dropped off some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Reports said that the little girl was suffering from malnutrition and that her thumb
had sores on it from being sucked on in attempts to satisfy her hunger .
As the reporter went on to other news, I switched off the T.V. By this time I could
feel the tears streaming down my face, I don’t believe that I had ever felt this way inside.
Though I tried I could not rid myself of this picture in my head of that little girl wandering the rooms of an empty apartment. Hungry and crying for a mother who could not hear her cries. From bedroom to living room to the empty kitchen void of the warmth and good smells of a loving home.
Try as I might I could not rid myself of this picture, of a little girl standing in an empty room crying for the mother who was not there. A sadness over came me as I saw her standing there, as soiled diaper hung loose between her tiny little legs, while she wandered back and forth from room to room until mercifully sleep would overtake the cries of hunger and pain.
I had heard stories about starving children. But this wasn’t a war torn country half way around the world or one filled with famine. This was a story that was becoming all too common. A story that is so unbelievable, that we tell ourselves that it just can’t be true.
Not in this country and this day and time, but alas it is all too true.
As I lay down to sleep that night, I could still hear the cries of that little girl. Cries that will forever haunt me and fill my dreams. And I thought to myself just before I dozed off, What kind of people have we become, when we could allow this to happen to a child.
What kind in deed.

Mommy can you hear me?


Mommy can you hear me
No mommy's not at home
Mommy can you hear me
crying all alone

Mommy can you hear me
calling out your name
Mommy can you hear me
am I the one you blame

Mommy can you hear me
as night it closes in
Mommy can you hear me
and see the shape I'm in

Mommy are you out there
as the shadows fill my walls
Mommy are you out there
to hear my frightened calls

Mommy are you out there
as the tears they fill my eyes
Mommy are you out there
to hear my lonely cries

Mommy will you hug me
and chase away my fears
Mommy will you hold me
and wipe away my tears

Mommy do you love me
or am I just a pest
Mommy do you love me
or are you like the rest

Mommy do you want me
or am I in your way
Mommy do you want me
Oh Lord I hope and pray

Mommy I love you
Please believe me when I say
Mommy I love you
Please don't go away