Scolded for Life

By Jameshia Jefferson

Who can imagine his pain and strife?
Separated from love and affection
in the prime of his life.
A tender toddler’s years are filled with strife
The heartache of a mother hitting the pipe

A nurtured life revoked,
He is just fourteen faced with strife.
His time in the system two times in,
If he only knew at least he has one true friend.

In the carelessness of caregivers
of no biological trace
Cops and parole haul him away
Tony, a kid faced with life on a crash course
Is it hard to imagine fourteen years old
and scolded for life?