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Open Poetry #9
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Little Joseph (A sensitive subject)
| Open Poetry #9 |
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Little Joseph (A sensitive subject) |
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Honeybee Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-26
Posts 5372Ontario, CANADA 
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Sorry for the graphic nature of this poem, but, sadly there are many cases of child abuse like this ~LITTLE JOSEPH~ Little Joseph is only seven he sings, he smiles, he's a breath of heaven, cute as a button, smart as can be, his mother often raves "when I had the chance, I should've drowned you when you were three!" Little Joseph doesn't want much, he's just a little boy wishing for his mommy to love him, so much so, he'd even sacrifice his only toy, forced to accept the abuse day after day for, his mom is all he knows, and when she starts drinking he often feels the bitter sting of her blows, even in the summertime, he wears long-sleeved shirts to cover the cigarette burns on his skin and the bruises that always hurt In desperation, little Joseph pleads "why do you harm me mommy? I'd never harm you!" but, his mom never listens for, he's always black and blue It's time for bed now, little Joseph says his prayers to God and without warning, his mom storms into his room and slashes his delicate ear with a steel rod, "I'm gonna kill you tonight, you worthless kid!" in shock, he screams, "No mommy, please no!" not understanding what he ever did to make her hurt him so, with arms wide open, he cries and cries, this is little Joseph's life, the pain of it all streams down from his baby blue eyes The stage is set for his end, she stands him up on a chair and stuffs a sock in his mouth, and he, frightened, squeezes his teddy bear - his only friend as she secures his mouth with medical tape Where are the angels when a child like this needs protection? they're no where in sight, as she, emotionless, wraps a rope around his neck, showing her precious little boy no affection looping the rope around the crank arm of his bedroom door, and little Joseph so sweet says not a word in knowing defeat as his teddy bear falls to the bloodstained floor, the mother he loves so dearly kicks the chair from under his feet and heartlessly grins as he takes his last gasp of air, there, an innocent boy, hangs, why his mommy hates him so much - a child cannot understand why and in the last act of his life, little Joseph waves goodbye *By Melissa Honeybee* < !signature--> The beauty of poetry gives me wings to fly [This message has been edited by Melissa Honeybee (edited 08-28-2000).] |
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| © Copyright 2000 Melissa P. Long-Monette - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Mark Bohannan Member Rara Avis
since 2000-06-21
Posts 7269In the winds of Cherokee song |
Melissa-It took me several minutes after reading this to be able to reply. The tears are still streaming down my face and I am fighting them back as I find it is too important of a subject to just ignore simply because it is a touchy subject. The sadness of this is overpowering and unfortuantely(this is a compliment)your wording was quite real. I commend your work in this and I know if it is this hard for me to read and reply it must have been a thousand times harder to write. Well done. |
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JnR4eva Member
since 2000-08-07
Posts 377Bronx, NY |
what strength it must have taken to write this b/c i know as a reader this hurts just to read...this emotion ..i can't really explian what you have done here... and the issue at hand...i hope that this is only fictional poetry, though i know situations like this do exist and occur....i am left speechless...this poem has truly hit the heart... and i am gaged with emotion...great writing though i'm afraid to think this is very real "my love is my motivation my love is my inspiration perception of this poem is your interpretation" -- rlt |
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poutprincess Senior Member
since 2000-07-06
Posts 735Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
i almost didnt reply to this, because it hurt so much i couldnt find any words to explain. im glad to see someone writing about this issue and making the community aware of these horrible issues...... but still the abuse goes on... when will we all stop watching and just start acting? ~Dawn |
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Marge Tindal 
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
Melissa~ Delicate it is ... delicately tender and touching. Sweetie, the saddest part of it is the fact that it is carried out in some version across this land every day. Just as it takes sensitivity and courage to write a piece such as this ... it takes sensitivity and courage to make others aware that this isn't a rare occurrence. It takes courage to recognize the violence that takes the lives of children each day. Only by awareness ... can we begin to help those children affected. Thank you for your awareness and for sharing this well written piece. I will share it with a mentoring group. Hugs from my heart to yours. ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ noles1@totcon.com |
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sonjes Senior Member
since 2000-02-18
Posts 564North Carolina |
I'm having difficulty looking at the computer screen at this moment...The emotions welling inside me are overwhelming. Your poem made me feel rage and fear and sadness and not just a little sick to my stomach...My hands are shaking as I fight back tears...tears because I know this happens every day. I'm enraged because people have turned away from abusers before and not reported it...ok...enough. You have packed a powerful punch with this one, melissa. My applause goes out to you for not being afraid to write it or post it. Don't care what people say Just follow your own way Don't give up and use the chance To return to innocence. -Enigma |
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Honeybee Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-26
Posts 5372Ontario, CANADA |
Thank you everyone for reading this piece. It was very difficult for me to write, and there were some tears, child abuse is such a personal subject to me and if any of my poems helps anyone or makes someone think or stops abuse then I have done my job. In a perfect world, child abuse would be no more, I just can't understand how anyone, especially a parent could harm or kill an innocent child, it just sickens me. And that is why I had to write this poem, believe it or not a similar incident happened in the U.S. in 1993 with a three year old boy. Take care, Melissa Honeybee The beauty of poetry gives me wings to fly |
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