Too Late | Teen Ink

Too Late

December 18, 2011
By RebeccaNeedsToPass SILVER, Forest View, Illinois
RebeccaNeedsToPass SILVER, Forest View, Illinois
9 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Those who criticized our generation forgot who raised it."- anonymous


He pulls his knees to his chest.
He is too afraid to tell anyone.
The neighbors don't know,
even if the bruises speak for him.

He is too afraid to tell anyone.
No one around him speaks up.
His bruises speak up,
but no one seems to care.

No one around him speaks up.
Screams of agony fill the neighborhood,
no one even seems to care.
They turn off their lights.

Screams of agony fill the neighborhood.
She looks into the house,
they turn off the lights.
The screams go on.

She looks into the house.
"Call the police?"
The screams go on.
Suddenly, it's quiet.

"Call the police!"
She picks up the phone.
It's too damn quiet.
Sweat drips down her face.

She hangs up the phone.
She walks into the house.
Sweat pours down her face.
"What should I do?"

She walks into a room,
his tiny, bruised body lay lifeless on the floor.
"What should I do?!"

You were too late.

The author's comments:
This pantoum was writing about child abuse and people who know about a child in need, but feel it's not their business to speak up until it's too late.

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