A Poem for Shaniya ..and victims like her

Little 5-​year-​old Shaniya Davis was memo­ri­al­ized yes­ter­day before over a thou­sand tear­ful onlook­ers. It is right after this point we (the gen­eral pub­lic) begin to for­get. The shock wears off. We begin to for­get what hap­pened to lit­tle chil­dren like her. We were cre­ated with the abil­ity to move on with our lives after a tragedy hap­pens. It is our cop­ing mech­a­nism. Until the next thing hap­pens. Then we are reminded again.

“Remember a cou­ple years ago what hap­pened to that lit­tle girl in Florida? That was so sad.”

My appeal to you is to not for­get though. I’m not sug­gest­ing that you carry the feel­ings of what hap­pens to oth­ers around with you con­stantly because that can be unhealthy. But don’t allow your­self to become apa­thetic. Don’t sink into the feel­ing of it could never hap­pen to me or some­one I love. It does hap­pen. The lit­tle faces of abused chil­dren or vic­tim­ized adults that we see on the news are just a frac­tion of the real­ity. Our hearts couldn’t stand it if we knew how many more suf­fer the same cir­cum­stances.

Thinking of this, I wrote this poem (I haven’t writ­ten a poem in a while so bear with me). For Shaniya. And other vic­tims like her. Smiling faces on the news that inevitably leave our mem­ory.

You see my face smil­ing in pic­tures,
My inno­cence in bloom.

Hidden away is the tragedy I expe­ri­enced,
The fear I felt, the doom.

I’m young, but I know that this is not,
How my life should end.

At the hands of those I was taught to love,
And from those whose womb I began.

To you, I am just “that girl/​boy” on the news,
To which you often say:

“It’s a shame what hap­pened to that lit­tle child,
Just look at their happy face.”

I AM A PERSON, who dreamt of a future
My past I didn’t cre­ate.

My eyes, they cried out to some­one for help,
But help came much too late.

Now, it’s my face that you see on the news,
Hoping to you that they can relate,

The ter­ri­ble thing that hap­pened to me,
Happens to kids like me every day.

Let my face remind you,
Of what this world has become,

A haven for those who prey upon the weak,
They hurt the inno­cent, the une­d­u­cated, the young.

Never for­get that my pic­ture could be replaced,
With that of some­one you know.

As long as this world is the way that it is,
The tragedies will only grow.

Let’s never for­get her or vic­tims like her:

17-​month-​old Jashon William

2-​year-​old Darisabel Baez

3-​year-​old Caylee Anthony

4-​year-​old Emma Thompson

5-​year-​old Samantha Runnion

7-​year-​old Sherrice Iverson

Thanks for read­ing,