I Heard it on the News

I heard it on the news.

My heart broke for him and his family.

Only nineteen

walking home alone on a deserted road.

They drove by at first then stopped and reversed.

He probably thought they were going to offer him a lift.

But they beat the life out of him.

Four boys of the same age

who never even knew him

and left him dead in the ditch.

Another, only seventeen.

Thrown off a bridge in front of a train

by a group of strangers.

His life stolen before even begun.

I wondered what he was thinking as they approached him.

Maybe only thoughts of home.

Of mother and dad,

a welcoming light

and a good meal that waited

in vain.

And as I listen to the stories unfold

and pull the tissues from the box,

I wonder what made them do this.

Did they take a dislike to clothes?

To hair? To the walk of a boy?

Does evil exist in these children of ours?

What brings them to want to hurt?

What demon delivers the blow?

I can’t help but ask myself

What have we become?

What will become of us?