The Forgotten Children

Dark clouds hung in the sky the day they came.
Came, to take me away.
"He'll have a good life with us" they said,
"He'll learn to read and write. He'll have a warm bed at night and lots of 
good food to eat".
"I'll be able to see him at weekends won't I?" my mother asked
"Everyday, if you want" they said.
And that was it,
My mother sold me into slavery.

I was loaded into a car and driven away,
Away.
"You're ours now" they said, "You.ll never be free".
"You've been sold" they said, "Into slavery".

The work was hard. Day after day after day, picking cotton in the baking 
sun. Me and the other forgotten children.
"Here's you bread" they said, "Your water too"
"But Sir!" I said "What about the good food you promised us? The education 
too?"
"We lied" they said, "And there's nothing you can do"
They locked us up at night. Out in the old barn with the leaking roof, 
giving nothing but a thin sheet to shield us.

You have your house.
You get fed
And sleep in a bed
While we lie here

The forgotten children.

Philip Chillag - 2003

-----
I wrote this poem for my GCSE Drama paper. When I read it now, I don't 
really like the style I used, but I'm posting it here because I'm 
concerned about the content. There are thousands of children being used as 
slaves in the world, but most people fail to see this. There are charities 
working to stop it, but unless more people notice the forgotten children, 
nothing will be done.

Philip Chillag
darksun@sdf.lonestar.org
05/04/2004
.