My innocence
Is slipping away
Like water held in cupped hands.

I should be watching cartoons,
But instead
I am Watching the news.

I should be laughing at jokes,
But instead
I am crying for lives lost to brutality and hate.

I should be playing outside,
But instead
I am sitting inside because the streets are no longer safe.

I should be going to school,
But instead
I am staying home in fear of a shooting.

I should be young and carefree,
But instead
I am burdened by the concerns and worries of the adult world.

Minds once virgin to the ideas of violence and hate
Have now been raped
By news unthinkable.