Child of the World

Her brown eyes stare at me And I stare back. They are dark, beautiful, and deep But also hollow. Hopeless. This child of eight. This modern day slave. Robbed of her childhood To feed the desires of the highest bidder. This wasn’t how I planned my trip to Brazil to be But this is what it has come to Staring into the eyes of a child Beneath the arms of a man who blesses those like a child. The growling man behind her tells me To either pay up and move along Eyes downcast, I move along. Along with all the other tourists Who turn a blind eye to her My heart weighs heavy as the air around me Where is the hope for this child? To her there is none. Only another day of evil men and beatings She breaks my heart. I quickly see there are more like her Millions of them Children forced into the sex trade Abducted, traded, violated, Robbed of the childhood that I took for granted The plane ride home gives me time to think. Too much time. I should have done something. Something other than just walk away And try to blend into the flow of traffic. Does anybody hear her? Does anybody see? Does anyone even care? We are all humans after all, All citizens of the world. Now I ask you fellow citizens of the world- Does this seem right to you?