LEADERS OF TOMORROW

When I was a child,

They said kidnappers only took children,

Who refused to stay at home,

Children who played carelessly on the streets,

And children who stayed out at night.

But now I’m an adult,

I see my kids go to school,

And I’m told that kidnappers attend classes,

Not to learn,

Or to read books,

But to count numbers,

Of the currencies that were made from tears.

And when I flood my tears on the altar of the ones who were to protect them,

They try to wipe my tears with a bag of rice,

When my children will not eat a single grain in the kidnapper’s den tonight.