My heart drums

as another teenager
dies on the street,
another family
is shattered,

as babies are born
into poverty and
innocent children
starve,

as pensioners
struggle to survive
and keep their
independence,

as blood seeps
into the ground
upon which
we tread,

as animals are
stolen, tortured,
killed or
abandoned,

as each day
begins beautiful
and fades
to plain.

My heart drums -
listen.