(This poem is dedicated to all the kids in the world who are deprived of the love they so desperately need.)

My heart goes out to the kids in the world
Who deal with unbearable grief--
Whose treatment by their loveless parents
Is cruel beyond belief.

My heart goes out to the kids in the world
Whose folks don't comprehend
Or care how their heartless behavior hurts
Their children in the end.

My heart goes out to the kids in the world
Whose lives are bleak and austere--
Who, rather than live with endless pain,
Would rather disappear.

My heart goes out to the kids in the world
Whose parents have no right
To even claim that role for themselves
When filled with so much spite.

My heart goes out to the kids in the world
Who struggle and suffer alone--
Who have to endure such misery
Through no fault of their own.

My heart goes out to the kids in the world
Who sadly unlike me
Have parents who didn't provide them with
Love and security.

My heart goes out the kids in the world
When I see what they've missed
By having parents whose hearts are stone,
And, yes, they do exist.

My heart goes out to the kids in the world;
I wonder what it will take
For much more loving kindness to thrive
And fewer hearts to ache.

-by Bob B (2-9-22)