Yesterday a baby was born,
Placed in a storm drain
To die by a father who wasn’t.
Three days of heavy rain
Washed the Blood of this Lamb
Into the sea.
He was found, expected to live
And died,
His short life measured in scant public
Outrage.
The 19 year old father said as they
Led him away:
“It was a miscarriage gone wrong.”
The rain continues today
Rushing down streets
To storm drains,
Making a gurgling sound.
Jane Kohut-Bartels
September 18, 2009-2016
(“Storm Drain Baby” first published in PoetCRIT Journal, India, 2010 by Jane Kohut-Bartels)
How many children must be killed by parents and gang violence before someone says “Enough”. Here in Atlanta, and surrounding counties, the killing of children, toddlers and babies are almost a weekly occurrence. Domestic violence and gang violence, where children get caught in the crossfire doesn’t seem to stop. How many more children will be sacrificed to a cultural chaos?
Tags: "Storm Drain Baby", cultural violence, gangs, poetry, sacrifice of the innocent.
Lady Nyo's Weblog 
May 6, 2016 at 12:08 am
What a horrible event. Our society is very unwell.
LikeLike
May 6, 2016 at 12:12 am
True. And even worse, it happened. I remember being so saddened by this short event…little outrage, then a general ‘forgetting’ of it…but you can’t forget something like this. Thank you, Sherry, for reading this and your comment. I am haunted by this poor, unseen baby.
LikeLike
May 16, 2016 at 1:12 am
What a hideous society we find ourselves struggling to overcome.
LikeLike
May 16, 2016 at 3:44 am
Yes, and I wish I could say this poem was fiction, but it wasn’t.
LikeLike
May 16, 2016 at 11:30 pm
Sadly, it is speaking of something all too common.
LikeLike