Eyes of a Child

Looking all around me and becoming more aware, Of the people and surroundings at which many children stare. I come to terms and realize the acts of hate I see, And now I fear that this same scene will soon envelope me. Walking on a lonesome road, though crowded it may seem, I pass through silent hordes of people hushing silent screams. Beside me standing hand-in-hand, an older man and wife, I wonder if they thought like me, what happened to their life. I reminisce now further back before these broken days, A time of wasting food and drink and dressing different ways. But now we all look just alike in tattered grays and browns, Drifting through these damaged streets and sporting matching frowns. I thought we'd left the two world wars and poverty behind, To linger in our broken books and fill an older time. A time where death would cloud the world with sorrow and disease, And fear would plant itself within the innocent with ease. This made me think and look around for Noah and his arc, And for the first time since the night I heard a flustered lark. I quickly turned around to spot within a child's hands, An injured bird whose time had brought it here from other lands. The child stole a piece of thread from a redbreast robin's nest, And wrapped around the ailing bird a splint so it could rest. An hour past the lark took flight and answered to the wild; The only resting place of hope is in the bright eyes of a child.