We Agree

Attempt the Impossible Task!

Did you ever see a young girl with an old woman's eyes?
Where happiness is a thing of the past (if ever...),
Too soon she's endured life's burdens and become sadly wise,
An old stone with the brightness of youth eddying 'round her.
She's lost her childhood - Her life has become a web of lies
And, spiderlike, something or someone has done this to her.

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This epigraph later became the beginning of what was to become "The Loss of Innocence"
(An unusual rhyming sestina that can be seen on this web site...)

We All Agree...

Statistics are terrible, we all agree,
Thousands, even millions, annually
Lose their lives to abuse and slavery.

It's deplorable, I'm sure we all agree,
When Daddy's liquored up, taking PCP
And comes home to beat the Hell out of me

And of course it's a shame, we all agree,
That so much is done with impunity,
In many nations, it's done legally!

I think it's wonderful that we all agree,
I'm happy that something eventually
Will be done for children so much like me.

I even think that you will agree with me,
I'm more than just another casualty,
More than anything that you thought I'd be

But since everything's done so slowly,
It's too late to do anything for me
And I'll already be a mortality...

Karl Stuart Kline, 2006

It's a dark and rocky road we follow...