“tender age shelters”
as if we are sheltering their tenderness
as if we aren’t
at the tenderest of ages
making them hard
broken
less than human

or maybe that’s just it
they are simply meat to us
tenderizing in a vat
of salty tears
until they come of tender age
to bite, chew, spit out

some melting pot, eh?

and yeah, I said us
you and me who cry with them
wringing our hands
tending to our own children
lest they too be caged
broken
too tender

we think it won’t happen to us
it’s already happening to us

chew on that, tender hearted