In the following piece of verse, the author comments upon the need for our species to collectively grieve for all of the children in the world, especially those who die due to preventable causes, so that Death may be held at bay. The poem is both a lament and ode to hope. If the entire planet was focused upon Childcentricity, would we be better able to reduce the power that Death currently holds over us? Rebel Voice likes to think so.

When The World Shall Weep

When one child dies, the World must weep

in tortured grief that steals all sleep,

for Death steps light, a callous thief,

who prowls our nights with sharpened teeth

to heed not tears nor lonely sighs

but sojourns near the parent’s cries

to feed yet more, if unrestrained,

if left to roam the homes in pain,

but shudders hard at focused thought

that loops…