Innocence Lost

This child sits now before me
Moist eyes full of tears
Soft sobs gasping, weeping
Orphaned by the hatred of man

He sits alone in this barren street
Amid the rubble of destruction
Grasping for the love of a mother
Her lifeless form now beside him...

Where is compassion my brothers?
Our innocence long since faded
Our umbilical of humanity now lost
Of what hope can there now be?

Oh sweet child before me
So alone and enveloped in fear
Tenderly longing for love
Stricken by the lost hopes of your fathers

Of what does your future now hold?
Into what shadow will you now grow?
Of what legacy have you been deprived?
Can there be any hope for you now?

How I ache to take you in my arms
To comfort you, to protect you
To erase the terror from your eyes
To replace your tears with hope...

Look inward my brothers and sisters
For we each are this child's keeper
You, me and our neighbor
Rescue this child we must, for we are that child...