Taken

A blessing given, a privilege taken...
What would you have grown up to be?
Who can say? You never lived long enough 
To swim across the river like the bigger boys, 
To climb mango trees, hunt for ‘swims’, 
Suck cocoa seeds all day in the summer, 
Collect bird egg, go to market on your own. 
You never lived to learn how to play an instrument
Maybe the drums or the guitar
Or maybe the piano, the trombone
They can never tell the tale of how you studied hard 
For the GSAT or maybe the CXC, CAPE, SAT, GRE...
Or even how you never loved the books but could sing,
Dance, draw, cook, paint, fix tings good.
Ever describe that look on your face when
You get your first job, purchase your first car, 
Start your own business, experience loss, bounce back
‘Check you first catty’, marry her
Gracefully receive a position of leadership
Walk into your own house, hold your first child in your hands.
Who, what, and how can they ever explain why you...
but a child to be cradled and cared for by safe adult hands
Should end up being just another life...
Taken... 
at the age of five?