Friday, September 01, 2006

Another: Marcus Fiesel, age 3

Another

this one a foster child autistic three
years old feces smeared on the wall
a handful the mother told police
there now he's your problem
so they placed him
with a married couple that's how
the system is supposed to work child
protection child endangerment child
neglect child dead from heat stroke
they went to a family reunion their idea
of respite care a blanket and packing
tape and stuff him in a closet my god
these are foster parents someone approved
of them someone said yes
the boy will be safer there nowhere
in the foster manual does it describe
how to call in a false missing person
report or give directions to burn a tiny
corpse of what used to be someone
for the morally outraged to editorialize
to call for sweeping change oversight
review reform bail is set at over
a million dollars each they both plead
not guilty no matter what
these two will never
foster again the verdict
cannot ressurect innocence and god forgive us
we will actively forget
until its time to eulogize another

ljcohen, 2006

another autistic child murdered

3 comments:

kristina said...

This is powerful------------

what happened to Marcus, unspeakable.

B White said...

Another throw-a-way human being in this bastion of democracy, freedom and fast food.

Aaron said...

Writer Holly Schlaack provides a sharp, keen look into lives of little troubled children in the foster care system. Holly Schlaack goes over successes and failures, all from her own firsthand as a long time social worker and guardian ad litem. Invisible Kids (www.InvisibleKidsTheBook.com) professional involved in the service of families and children should read and Holly's wisdom and influences could append any training program. Media accounts collided with the private citizens of system failures can find Holly's "Dozen Ways to Make a Difference" practical and inspiring.