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