24 Hours To Live

A Monday night, while watching TV
I saw something that changed me forever.
A little girl came on the screen
and talked of her endeavors.

She told a story of her past,
That made my heart just weep.
She told of how her parents died
while she was still asleep.

She'd been to far too many houses
but never found a home.
So she packed her things and ran away,
Traveling all alone.

By the time she was nine
She'd already been high,
And as she detailed me this,
I started to cry.

She'd been raped and abused
By a man in the streets.
And just prayed someone would find
the DNA on his sheets.

But now she had a found
A family to love.
They gave her a home
and placed her above.

Her life had found meaning
or so she had thought.
But she had a disease
One she had caught.

And when the doctor told her
"My dear, you have AIDS."
The world around her
Just started to fade.

So she made herself a promise
To do all she could,
For the boys and the girls
Who still lived in the hood.

She swore that her life
Would not go to waste
And that no girl would go through
The hell that she faced.

Then my life had been changed
By a girl I'd never meet
Because two weeks later
Her life had been beat.

So now ask yourself this
and think long and hard
And remember the girl
Who's life had been scarred.

Will you seize the day?
Will you forget and forgive?
And what would you do
If you had 24 hours to live?