Childhood Lost
by Agnes Clarke
With their father taken from them, an illness not understood
Round their mother’s knee they huddled trying to be good
But mum did not want to know for she had hatched a plan
To abandon these poor “wee” waifs and take off with a man
She dressed them in their Sunday best and quickly packed a bag
Held together hand in hand they left home by the back yard
No one must see this act so cruel and so quietly they walked
Mother with that telling look, no time allowed for talk
They reached the railway station and with very little time
The tickets bought, the children were left behind the station line
With tickets attached to signs around their necks
These three children were abandoned with never a look back
The stationmaster wondered why no adult was in charge
But the note pinned to the older child was explanation by far
The boy was to be taken and housed in the male section of orphanage named
The girls to be transferred to a female block with the arrangements made
The youngest girl was just a baby-in-arms
Her sister so protective, though, sad she showed her charm
The relations were not told or notified of this break in family
And traces of those children were lost for years until just casually
One Sunday by coincidence relatives had taken a drive
Miles away from where they lived decided to rest awhile
On a park bench they watched with fascinated eyes
A lot of children dressed alike in line went snaking by
One little face stood out, whom they thought they recognized
Thinking they were a boarding school out for a Sunday surprise
Upon finding the true nature they decided to enquire
The little girl they had picked out looked like a sister-in-law
She had not kept in touch and in their hearts they knew
That something bad had happened but no news ever came through
That Sunday was the start of a new life for those girls
The boy had left his life behind and joined the Royal Marines
Those girls were brought to live at their Aunt and Uncle’s home
The boy he learned their fate and visited when he could come
The little girl is grown now, and has children off her own
For she became my sister-in-law and I love her like my own
With their father taken from them, an illness not understood
Round their mother’s knee they huddled trying to be good
But mum did not want to know for she had hatched a plan
To abandon these poor “wee” waifs and take off with a man
She dressed them in their Sunday best and quickly packed a bag
Held together hand in hand they left home by the back yard
No one must see this act so cruel and so quietly they walked
Mother with that telling look, no time allowed for talk
They reached the railway station and with very little time
The tickets bought, the children were left behind the station line
With tickets attached to signs around their necks
These three children were abandoned with never a look back
The stationmaster wondered why no adult was in charge
But the note pinned to the older child was explanation by far
The boy was to be taken and housed in the male section of orphanage named
The girls to be transferred to a female block with the arrangements made
The youngest girl was just a baby-in-arms
Her sister so protective, though, sad she showed her charm
The relations were not told or notified of this break in family
And traces of those children were lost for years until just casually
One Sunday by coincidence relatives had taken a drive
Miles away from where they lived decided to rest awhile
On a park bench they watched with fascinated eyes
A lot of children dressed alike in line went snaking by
One little face stood out, whom they thought they recognized
Thinking they were a boarding school out for a Sunday surprise
Upon finding the true nature they decided to enquire
The little girl they had picked out looked like a sister-in-law
She had not kept in touch and in their hearts they knew
That something bad had happened but no news ever came through
That Sunday was the start of a new life for those girls
The boy had left his life behind and joined the Royal Marines
Those girls were brought to live at their Aunt and Uncle’s home
The boy he learned their fate and visited when he could come
The little girl is grown now, and has children off her own
For she became my sister-in-law and I love her like my own
With their father taken from them, an illness not understood
Round their mother’s knee they huddled trying to be good
But mum did not want to know for she had hatched a plan
To abandon these poor “wee” waifs and take off with a man
She dressed them in their Sunday best and quickly packed a bag
Held together hand in hand they left home by the back yard
No one must see this act so cruel and so quietly they walked
Mother with that telling look, no time allowed for talk
They reached the railway station and with very little time
The tickets bought, the children were left behind the station line
With tickets attached to signs around their necks
These three children were abandoned with never a look back
The stationmaster wondered why no adult was in charge
But the note pinned to the older child was explanation by far
The boy was to be taken and housed in the male section of orphanage named
The girls to be transferred to a female block with the arrangements made
The youngest girl was just a baby-in-arms
Her sister so protective, though, sad she showed her charm
The relations were not told or notified of this break in family
And traces of those children were lost for years until just casually
One Sunday by coincidence relatives had taken a drive
Miles away from where they lived decided to rest awhile
On a park bench they watched with fascinated eyes
A lot of children dressed alike in line went snaking by
One little face stood out, whom they thought they recognized
Thinking they were a boarding school out for a Sunday surprise
Upon finding the true nature they decided to enquire
The little girl they had picked out looked like a sister-in-law
She had not kept in touch and in their hearts they knew
That something bad had happened but no news ever came through
That Sunday was the start of a new life for those girls
The boy had left his life behind and joined the Royal Marines
Those girls were brought to live at their Aunt and Uncle’s home
The boy he learned their fate and visited when he could come
The little girl is grown now, and has children off her own
For she became my sister-in-law and I love her like my own
Writers Bio
I have been writing poetry for quite a few years
I enjoy the challenge of creating my verse especially from pictures
I live in Lisburn N Ireland and have been married for 50 years
I am a retired housewife and grandmother of Jacob and Jesse
Inspirational Image

Pieces Inspired by this Image
'Wait For Me'
by Lynn White
'Lost Children'
by Ann Stolinsky
'The Seeing Kind'
by Sandra Arnold