Thank Heaven for Little Girls

by Doreen Ambrose-Van Lee

(Dedicated to the memories of Jon Benet Ramsey, Sherrice Iverson and Ryan Harris)

First Published In Street Wise (2000)

Sometimes I reach down to hold your tiny hand

And I come up feeling powerless and helpless and

Unable to understand,  why I will never see you

Playing in a schoolyard, backyard or

Playground because someone decided to take

What the world had found:

Three beautiful little girls,

With ponytails and bright faces

Whose pictures and stories have

Turned up in so many places

To tell stories of torture and abuse

To show the world that you refuse

To die down and disappear Because if you do I fear

That no little girl will be able to play alone

Without the benefit of a bodyguard or chaperone Increasingly,

day after day, I wake up In the morning and I hear in the news that

Another little life has been taken by a crazed maniac

I then immediately think of my precious 7-year-old and quickly react:

I say dear God, sometimes I reach down to hold her tiny Hand,

and I still come up feeling

Powerless and helpless and unable to Understand

why I must never let go Of her hand...

But God, I still thank Heaven for little girls.