I Am

I AM

by Ari Pollack

*I am a child*

I wonder about life’s mysteries and what they mean to me

I hear you are too young, but I am not, I know they talk of lies and greed

I see a pool of confusion writhing, like a pit of snakes, in my mind, as

I think of politics

I want to be heard, for children often find answers to problems with

mere innocence

*I am a child*

I pretend not to feel the despair seeping into our world, a cold draft

through a wood wall

I feel dismissed; no one wants to hear my views, as I am just a silly

innocent “little thing”

I touch destiny, something we lose faith in as we become “too old for

childish foolery”

I worry for all those who lost all individuality, relying on others to

survive

I cry out in frustration, feeling quashed, like a bug under a shoe on

the pavement

*I am a child*

I understand now that no matter what you do, once you lose innocence it

is gone

I say follow your dreams and you can go far, but I am ignored, unheard,

forgotten

I dream that one day I can make or world better by listening to kids’ views

I try to listen to people now, and I read their emotions, but do not

reveal them

I hope to achieve this so no one must go unheard, and everyone’s valued,

no matter what

*I am a child*