Happy youthful faces,
an everyday sight,
reduced to an image
displayed on the news every night.

Nervous pleading parents,
refusing to speak aloud
worry about their child, and
wish for a safe return from this dark cloud.

Thankful bystanders,
cradling their children, are called upon
to lend a helping hand
and a shoulder to cry on.

Curious reporters
confirm nothing for me,
snap shots of the scene
displaying them for all to see.

On edge investigators,
tired and weary,
continue to search until all light is gone
nothing to find, only a theory.

Once a cheerful child,
not known by many,
lived a blissful life
full of potential and love from plenty.

Now a child all alone
thinks of the life they may never see,
while the others spared think,
what if it was me?

Guilty criminals
run and hide
just to be uncovered and
brought to their new confines.

Happy youthful faces,
an everyday sight,
reduced to an image
displayed on the news every night.