A young boy who only wanted love and to dream

was violated, left to holler and scream.

A young mother, her head down, so beat to the brow,

cries but is silent -- finding no dignity now.

And so the dark world did beckon and threw them a kiss;

not loved, nor knowing love, they went down the abyss.

I stood at the dark edge, looking down at their souls;

hearing the cries of the lonely, inside that black hole.

I cast my line of compassion, did what is right.

I tugged and I pulled and brought them into the light.

And as they stood before me, next, what did I find?

Yet the millions behind them, who holler and cry.

I am but one; I ask, “Who joins me in this fight?”

Or will you turn away, leave them only the night?

No person in a nation that stands proud and tall

can stand and do nothing while some 1-in-5 fall.

So as you put your children to bed with a kiss,

remember, there are millions...lost to the abyss.

Bridgette Rodriguez
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