ah, the child within us

bleeding from gentle cuts

those who ‘know what’s best’

give without recognition

of children’s deepest needs

causing pallor in our impulse

   toward empathy

and ischemia in our surety of acceptance

   of self and thus of others

the unloved dies a victim of neglect

   and learned hatred

staggering on, we settle for criteria

   of worth as wealth, power and

   cosmetic beauty

even as the child within us weeps

knowing these are superficial and

   unworthy of our brief lives