Who was it, unwise child,
Who taught you to hate like this?
What kind of twisted mind
Made you frightened of a kiss?
Did some kind of twisted soul
Train you to hate based on skin?
Did one or both parents of yours
Mistrain you about morals and sin?

Who taught you to speak painfully
To those who were born less fortunate;
To laugh and call names of those
Who are sad or disconsolate
From the waves of life washing in
And taking them away,
To the kind of life you have never
Had to suffer for even one day?

Did your family force you to compete
For love, acceptance and approval?
Did you even undergo the threat
Of reprisals, and maybe removal?
Did you look to your parents eyes
For help and loving acceptance
And instead find the face
Of rejection, and even repugnance?

Everyone wishes all children
Get treated sweetly and kindly
But some parents are poisoned
By their parents to react blindly
And pass on the outrage
That was given to them as kids.
They too, are victims
Of what their parents did.

The hope for today is simple;
Don’t pass it on to your children.
Wake up, change things and
Do what it takes to love them.
Stop the cycle here with you:
Hold back that anger and hate.
Teach them that they, like you,
With your love and care, can be great.