foster care

a little boy sits in a small, dark, cold room  
drowning in tears, despair, and gloom.  
hears his "parents" yelling down the hall  
pounding vibrates through the wall.  
footsteps come and stop at the door  
fear spreads through him to his very core.  
sees the hand fly through the air, feels his cheek burn red  
begins to cry, tries to crawl and hide under his bed.  
paddle swings over and over till it breaks  
doesn't know how much more he can take.  
belt, paddle, fist it's all the same  
he's just a pawn in their sick twisted game.  
minute after minute goes by till they're too tired to hit anymore  
they leave him bruised, beaten, and sobbing on the cold dirty floor.  
hears screams in the other room, realizes they weren't done  
it's his dear sister they're beating now and having their fun.  
fuck,there's really nothing that he can do  
except watch in tears, and tell her over and over "i love you".  
broken and beaten, they sit later and wonder why, why, why?  
how much more can they take before they die?  
even he knows this is wrong, this isn't how kids live their lives  
they aren't brought up being yelled at, beaten, threatened with knives.  
this beating was worse than usual, it'll be a while for his scars to heal  
his stomach won't stop growling, it's been a few days since his last meal.  
his sister sneaks in later, tear streaked face, lost, haunted look in her eyes  
this image will forever be burned in his mind until the day he dies.  
together they've lasted, pushed through it all  
been there to help eachother, pick eachother up from the painful fall.  
they can take no more, they've reached the final round, rung that last bell  
together they pull the trigger, and finally escape their prison of hell.