This rather disturbing poem is by the boy in OutofRange’s logo picture. Ben Rhode’s poem has been accepted for publication in the Young Writers book Talkin’ Bout My Generation.

Unspoken Words

A baby sits and stares,
Yearning for its poison,
A ghost re-living its death,
Waiting for the light

Plastic chains constrict it,
Rubber tubing silence it,
Its dreams, its hopes, its aspirations
The trampled teddy in the grit

Its cries never cease,
They echo the pain of hell,
It would consume a mortal man,
Leaving but a hollow shell,

Its owners stand remorseless,
Impervious to its suffering,
Their icy glares boring in,
Branding its soft, tender skin,

As thought evolves a light flicks on,
Brighter by the second,
A bundle of life and joy,
Begins to unfold

Gradually it rises,
Beyond the soulless dungeons,
To the surface of the world,
Beneath the glowing sun