Child Abuse in Oregon
Why is there so much child abuse in Oregon? This is a question I have pondered many times, yet I cannot find an answer. In lieu of this I offer my poem "In Child's Play"
Take a deep breath -
far and away,
yet near to home.
As far and away - and as near to home
in West Palm Beach, where, in the closet,
little Christina's body was kept by her mother
following her stepfather's corrective hands
As far and away - and as near to home
in Everett, Washington, where the sweet Roxanne
was found under an alley waste of wrongful death
Oh God,
sometimes I wake up screaming!
As far and away - and as near to home in Chicago,
where Tony wanted to know who took the food stamps -
anointing his lover's son with lighter fluid in search of truth
Oh vacant heart in the hear and know where mothers
throw their infants through plate glass floors
and their bodies are found on Mother's Day
And as near to home and shore as Union City,
where Michael and Alex screamed their mother's name
from the back seat of a South Carolina lake bottom
Oh sweet Lord
I wake up screaming your name -
So close to this given heart
do we indulge in after-cover silence
as if to drown out the innocent horror
screaming to us from the cellar next door
As far and away and as close to home in Gresham, Oregon -
where a lifeless mother strangled her daughter
with her tennis shoe laces before strolling
to a near-by funeral home to make confession
Oh indeed......
Sometimes I wake up screaming
that I've only been dreaming,
dreaming of this acrid light
that screams a serial refrain:
What on earth do we tell them?
Before we tell them not to tell -
and
well before we tell them
what will happen if they do
Before we spank them blue
or brand them scalding red -
before we drown them dead
Before all of this and more....
Before their precious bodies hit the wall
before they become motionless and mute
sitting alone on a bathroom floor
Before we turn up the volume
to block out the scream -
before time's heart cracks all around us
and there will be nothing -
nothing to tell them at all.
© 2008 - Hammond Guthrie
*Taken from Child'sPlay - For gallery installation
consisting of one live performance by the artist, taped audio texts,
altered photographs, interactive sculpture and performance video.
Keywords:
Oregon Child Abuse
One reason there may be so much abuse in Oregon is because a lot of old hippies hide up in the woods. They hide away from the police and society. They take dope. Their kids take dope. And then the kids are neglected. I heard of a couple who let their son become a meth freak because they couldn't be bothered to stop their own "busy" lives in order to deal with their son. That kind of "parenting" is rampant in Oregon.
You obviously haven't been
You obviously haven't been to Oregon. If you had you would know that the vast majority of Oregon abusers are school teachers, athletics coaches, local politicians, care givers and Scout leaders. Your comments belie a complete ignorance.
A childs prayer
Bravo! Here's a poem I wrote about my teacher at Fort Vannoy:
Teachers Pet
I never asked to be the teacher's pet,
though she stroked me the wrong way.
The nightmares terrorize again and again.
The onion named Cheryl whispering, "don't tell a soul."
The playground was made a catch-all for tears,
Hell awaits at the end of the slide.
The teacher's pet is so alone,
the gifts and treats cannot buy back the loss
of everything sacred diminished in a boy's sorrow.