Forever Yours

Forever Yours

(by Rachel Williams)

Please don't lie to us
We're not your treasures
We're not your hope
For the future
We're not precious gifts
To be nurtured and protected
We're not Princesses
Or Angels
Yet

We're your property
We belong to you
We obey you
We depend on you
For everything we need
Especially love
And you can treat us
As you want
And you can abuse us
If you want
And even if you get caught
You can get away with
A slap on the wrist

Because we don't really count
A judge can decide what you did
Wasn't all THAT bad
And feel sorry for you
So you won't suffer
Like we did

There'll be a big show
Called a trial
Maybe
Everyone will be cry out
"Protect our childen"
But then they'll wink
And snicker
Because they know

A slap on the wrists
Is all you'll get
Because after all
We're only children
And children can be difficult
So the punishment
Should fit the crime
A slap on the wrists

Then you can go home
And use your belt
To get even
Or your hands
Or worse
To teach us a lesson
To be grateful
For what you give us
And to never tell
What you take from us
So painfully
Because we don't really count
And we belong
To you

And we love you
And we're afraid of you
And we want to be Good
And you know
That we want
Your love
And we'll do
Almost anything
For
Your love
No matter the cost
To ourselves
For the rest
Of our lives

USA Today - 9/12/98
Parents convicted of locking their 7-year-old daughter in a dog cage stained with urine and feces were sentenced to a year in jail by a judge who said they deserved compassion despite their despicable conduct. ........ the girl, now 8, was found locked in the basement in a wire cage described as the size of a 27-inch television set...... A criminal complaint said the father told investigators he sometimes left the girl in the cage overnight. ...... Three of the girl's four brothers testified about beatings with sticks, belts and a drain pipe and of being forced to stand for hours holding boards over their heads. ............. Michael and Angeline Rogers, accused of beating four of their five children with sticks and pipes, could have received 40 years in prison. But Circuit Judge Steven W. Weinke opted Friday for one-year terms followed by 10 years of probation.

Author's Note

Three boys were beat with sticks and belts and pipes. A 7 yr old girl got beat and treated like an animal and kept in a cage. The judge didn't think those things were so bad to do to kids cause on a scale of 1 to 40 he only gave it a 1. I wonder how much more worse they could do to the kids before the judge gave them a 10 or 20. I wonder if he thinks anything that parents do to their kids deserves a 40 as long as the kids stay alive.

Rachel
September 15, 1998