Missing and Murdered

How I am to pretend that the world
This shell of a home
-Is okay enough to raise our children in
When the streets are lit
Not with electricity and powerlines
That dance across the horizon
But with lights from candles that sway in the breeze
Over the loss of another son
The disappearance of another daughter
Whose name will go on a list to be covered with a thousand more
Darkness covering the earth we have known
Instead of the light that pours from the laughter
The smiles of the ones we have lost

The girl down the street went missing last week
Police refuse, to act, to care
The family patrol down dark alleys
Traveling hours to scour for the daughter
The sister, the niece, that they know is
Breathing in nothing but the stale flavor of dirt
Whose bones have become naked, only shielded by shrubs

The man across town, his body was found
Tossed in a culvert, hidden from sight
Not much of a condolence, not much healing
When his children consider at the hands of every person they meet
And wonder if they are stained with the blood of their father

How I am to pretend that the world
This shell of a home
-Is okay enough to raise our children in?