"FACINGFACES 2002 - 04" SELECTED POETRY

SHAME

I am the child without a mother
I am the mother without a daughter.
I am the fear that holds me captive
and as sure is my silence
until I am the body lying cold in a grave.
I am the faces flashed on the evening news.
Missing
murdered.
I am a family's grief and a husband's shame.
I am the cry for help in tear-swollen eyes.
I am the one it was too late to save.
I am the memory of a battered body
and a shattered soul.
I am the voice of your sister
your mother
your daughter
your friend
And I am you.


Jenn Loring
USA
copyright.2002