Sarah's Poem (Trigger)

[webmoo]

Warning: This poem is emotional and talks of child abuse. It may be upsetting to anyone who has been affected by child abuse in the past.

This poem is being distributed around the net and being put up on various websites in the hope that it will make people think about it, and, just maybe, save some children's lives.

SARAH'S POEM

My name is Sarah
I am but three,
My eyes are swollen
I cannot see,
I must be stupid
I must be bad,
What else could have made
My daddy so mad?
I wish I were better
I wish I weren't ugly,
Then maybe my mommy
Would still want to hug me.
I can't speak at all
I can't do a wrong
Or else I'm locked up
All the day long.
When I awake I'm all alone
The house is dark
My folks aren't home.
When my mommy does come
I'll try and be nice,
So maybe I'll get just
One whipping tonight.
Don't make a sound!
I just heard a car
My daddy is back
From Charlie's Bar.
I hear him curse
My name he calls
I press myself
Against the wall.
I try and hide
From his evil eyes
I'm so afraid now
I'm starting to cry.
He finds me weeping
He shouts ugly words,
He says its my fault
That he suffers at work.
He slaps me and hits me
And yells at me more,
I finally get free
And I run for the door.
He's already locked it
And I start to bawl,
He takes me and throws me
Against the hard wall.
I fall to the floor
With my bones nearly broken,
And my daddy continues
With more bad words spoken.
"I'm sorry!", I scream
But its now much too late
His face has been twisted
Into unimaginable hate.
The hurt and the pain
Again and again
Oh please God, have mercy!
Oh please let it end!
And he finally stops
And heads for the door,
While I lay there motionless
Sprawled on the floor.
My name is Sarah
And I am but three,
Tonight my daddy
Murdered me.


Every day thousands of kids just like Sarah are killed at the hands of one
or both or their parents. And you can help. All I am
asking you to do, is take some time to send this on and acknowledge that
this stuff does happen, and that people like her dad do live in our
society, and I pray for child abuse to wither out and die, but also pray
for the safety of Our youth. The young ones cannot help themselves....if
you suspect a child is in danger, please do not look the other way, we can
make a difference. Please pass this poem on because as crazy as it might
sound, it might just indirectly change a life.

[diana_holbourn]

and if you just read this and don't pass it on I pray for your forgiveness, cause you would have to be one heartless person to not be effected by this email.

I don't like emotional blackmail. How is passing it on and getting others to read it meant to help?

Do you have any suggestions as to what people could do?

[Sarah11]

If I wanted to pass this on the best way would be to just edit out the section of wording that you don't like. You can delete from 'Sickens me' through to the end of that sentence and it would still read ok.

[diana_holbourn]

Perhaps the person who wrote the poem thought that by reading something like that, people would be more likely to help people who are trying to stop child abuse, and that's why they wanted it forwarded on. I suppose it might work. But I wonder how. I was wondering how the webmaster thought people could help stop child abuse. Do you yourself have any suggestions? Do you know of any charities you have heard are doing a good job that you feel confident about recommending, or any other things it might be helpful if people do?

[webmoo]

Ok, the post has been edited, (Trigger) has been added to the title, as requested, and a warning has been added to the top.

Diana: I thought the point was fairly obvious. It says at the bottom, "if you suspect a child is in danger, please do not look the other way", and all that they want is for people to "acknowledge that this stuff does happen".

Basically, this means that they want this kind of thing to be an option in peoples minds - Many people think that things like that are so bad that they are simply the stuff of TV and movies, and that no-one is really that bad in reality. The poem wishes to say 'No, actually, people *are* that bad in reality sometimes. Please keep your eyes open and, if you see a child who looks like they may be being beaten up, just have an inquisitive look and check that everything is ok. You could save their life'. That's my understanding of it, and I hope the paraphrasing has made it clearer for you Diana!

Also, it's a good, emotional bit of poetry, and this is the "poetry and prose" board after all...

[littlemoo]

Diana, if the poem bothers you for being a poem, and emotional blackmail, perhaps you would prefer a true, factual, news story. I notice you seem to like news stories.

Man Guilty of Murdering Toddler (BBC News, 6th June 2005)
"A man who killed his girlfriend's three-year-old daughter has been found guilty of her murder..."
"There were 50 marks on her body including a burn on her back which matched the grill of a gas fire. "

Originally posted by diana_holbourn@19th June 2005 - 11:23 PM
Do you have any suggestions as to what people could do?

Quoted post

Be aware that it happens.
If you see, or suspect that it might be happening, tell the police or social services.
That's what you can do.

"In the weeks before her death, witnesses said they had seen Howden slap the child and throw her on to a sofa, where she banged her head."

Maybe if one of those witnesses had told someone a bit sooner, then this may not have happened.

~Jo

[diana_holbourn]

No clearer. My point was that if someone sees someone they think might be being beaten up, that poem won't have made them think the kid's beaten up anymore than their own senses will when they see it happen. After all, if someone's being beaten up that badly, I can't imagine it going unnoticed. Those witnesses in that news story must have known it was going on. If abuse that bad didn't make them tell the police, I'm not sure a poem would have. And how do you propose that a stranger who, according to your implication, doesn't know if it's happening or not, go about "making sure that everything's OK" without either causing embarrassment and disruption if it isn't happening, being lied to, probably amid an angry confrontation if it is, or endangering themselves while doing nothing to promote the child's safety?

If they don't see it happen, I don't understand how the poem will have made any difference either. What difference will just "acknowledging that this stuff does happen" make?

Of course, I'm not saying the poem won't make a difference; I was merely a bit sceptical. Perhaps it will.

I wasn't objecting to you putting the poem on here. I just didn't like the bit at the end I quoted, wondered what a difference it could really make, and thought it might trigger strong emotions without warning.

Jo, did you read what I wrote properly? I can't understand why you should imagine that I was saying I thought the whole poem was emotional blackmail when I clearly quoted the bit that I thought was. And I can't understand why you think I don't like the poem just for being a poem either, or that I would prefer a news story on here and actually like them. You didn't explain how you came to that conclusion.

I wondered if the Webmaster might be able to recommend any organisations that he knows personally have a good reputation for helping abused children.

[Saffron]

I am with Diana on this one.
The poem itself is harrowing and not easy to read, but undeniably moving.
I do however, object to being told that if i don't pass it on I am heartless, and someone will feel obliged to pray for my soul. As soon as I got to that part, i stopped reading. I am not heartless, and I am a good mother. It sounds like one of those horrible chain letters that get emailed, telling us to pass it on to 12 people or something nasty will happen to our loved ones.

I also think it is worth pointing out that on numerous occasions, the Social Services have interfered in the lives of various healthy, loving families simply because a nosy neighbour/bystander has stuck their oar in. Look at the posts eslewhere on this site about the Isle of Lewis abuse scandal. I am not saying we shouldn't become involved if we genuinely do think a child is being abused. I know I would never forgive myself if I had simply stood aside and allowed someone to abuse their kids. but please be careful.

[mol12]

i agree with saffron,our lives have been shattered,our children have not been abused,