s-s-sometimes

i hear terrified winds of

stuttering children

s-s-suffering around the world

…ch-ch-choppy bits of unborn

heartbeats

which should have pattered

like tinkly tambourines…

if only

they had had the

chance

to play…

stac-ca-toes

of

young

voice-

es

pre-tend-

ing

with

mach-ine

guns

and

i-i-i’m  too y-y-young  to d-d-die

su-i-cide

lisps

Wh-wh-when is recess

o-o-over?

my f-f-foot

steps

st-st-stutter

fuh

fuh

fuh-

alter

t-t- t

…rip

over

dirty mounds

of too-soon-to-be-toddler’s

arms

s-s-surrounded by circles of

snake fangs

curled into

false lips,

hissing

cruel words…

creating

cruel worlds

where

death-threats hang

from online billboards,

and countries’ eyes glow

red with

blood-wine

hate,

where

ch-ch-children

are slashed into p-p-puzzle-pieces

fitting neatly into governmental

boxes

where toddlers’ arms

are planted like suicide-seeds

to feed hungry gods.

aborted lives in wombs…

kindergarten tombs…

where children learn how to die

sometimes my footsteps st-st-stutter.

sometimes my heart

f-f-forgets

to

beat.