Protecting the children
Which children?
Who protects the little girl
Sitting at home in the dark hours of the night
Drafting the suicide letter her mother will find
Four hours later?

She says she’s sorry,
But she just can’t bear it.
She’s sick, wrong, bad- she knows it
And there’s no place for her in this world.
(So they’ve told her)
In the pursuit to protect the children
How many childhoods have you ended?

Protecting the family-
The basic unit of society-
A mother, a father, three children, and a white picket fence.
A funeral is held two blocks down from the only such family in the city
For that little girl,
Her family torn to shreds, sobbing, asking why, blaming and hurting.
Was it this family you protected?

Protecting marriage.
Years later, the sister of that little girl sits in a court room-
Bruised face, arms, and back.
A marriage dissolved, abuse charges brought
On a husband brought up in foster care.
He didn’t have a stable family, they say
No love, no support- their defense sticks.
While millions of couples would have been glad to raise this child
But apparently the state’s care
Is better than that of a loving couple
Who just happen to be gay.

You are your own enemy.