Baby Beaten

When you beat a child,
what goes in your mind?
Can you raise your hand,
can you pause and rewind?

[pause]

"I hate this kid"
You think in rage.
Can you pause right there!
Please write it on a page.

It's a baby with eyes,
of hope and dreams.
A baby with hands,
to hold the reins.

Of its own future,
its own life.
A right to smile,
a right to survive.

You strip it off those,
you push, shove, burn.
You take something.
that you can't return.

[unpause]

So when you beat a child,
to death...
What goes on in your mind?