Girl Rising

Based on a true story from a television documentary on Human Trafficking...an international crime with participants from a broad spectrum of society...occuring on a daily basis. I have only seen documentaries on the trafficking of young girls between the ages of 5 and above!! Law enforcers, it seems are fighting a losing battle against the men and women who sell and enslave young girls and I have no doubt, young boys as well. Somewhere this day on planet earth A Mother-to-be, while in labor, cries Not so much for the mounting pain Nor the fear of possible death So many fears for the future… “What lies ahead in the coming years? What “fate” will meet my child?” And added to all her heightened fears is… Will she be there to protect her child? Those dark years have now passed into decades When Tanya walked the shadowy streets of the city at late night While kids her age slept peacefully in their beds They made her dress up so she’d looked twenty one Days were spent locked in a room, under watchful eyes She was fed cheap fast food to her young heart’s content Soon she'd lose all hope of liberation This was the second man she had been sold to And after a while she’d adapt to the situation Still fresh in her mind was that last day at school In her backpack was her favorite teddy bear Her Mother had chosen to believe her step-father again Now that her twelfth birthday would be in a month As no one cared, she decided to run away While at the bus station she met this “nice” couple Who listened to every word she spoke They promised her a ride to any place she wished And she’d always wanted to see Disney land “Maybe, she thought, it’d be a birthday treat” However, that would be another promise broken Weeks dragged on and they bought her “stuff” Although treated well, sometimes she still felt alone Then one day came the grown up clothes and make up That night her innocence was stolen once more Later she’d try to make an escape Only to be caught and tied to the bed post ‘Make it easy on yourself and accept your “fate”, she was told That was years ago, although it seems like yesterday, When arrested by a new officer on the vice squad Who saw the flaw in the picture before him The pimp gave no reasonable answer to the simple question ‘Why are you parked late at night on the street corner with a minor?’ Looking back over the years, she came to conclude that “Fate” is just another word, made up to cast aside blame; when we do not want to see the path we’ve chosen which has led us to our present state When Pilate symbolically washed his hands, though he had power in that moment to act.. When there before him stood truth and innocence, Yet, he chose to make a comfortable bed for his conscience Today, Tanya is a college graduate and a Mother who has vowed not to leave anything to “fate”. She’d teach her children to take responsibility for the choices they make… She would teach them that no one is of lesser value than another.. Male or female; black or white, all hues; rich or poor All have a God given right to live free! ~*~ 8/03/13 For: Richard's "Girl Rising" Contest (3rd Place Win)