I think kids grow up too fast these days, and I am forever thankful that back in the 60s I lived out a full childhood. Your poem is a well written strong reminder that this isn't the case for some, Ken. Well done.

Maybe she should should revisit Newton: "It’s hard to imagine a more fundamental and ubiquitous aspect of life on the Earth than gravity, from the moment you first took a step and fell on your diapered bottom to the slow terminal sagging of flesh and dreamsBut what if it’s all an illusion, a sort of cosmic frill, or a side effect of something else going on at deeper levels of reality? So says Erik Verlinde, 48, a respected string theorist and professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam, whose contention that gravity is indeed an illusion has caused a continuing ruckus among physicists, or at least among those who profess to understand it. Reversing the logic of 300 years of science, he argued in a recent paper, titled “On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton,” that gravity is a consequence of the venerable laws of thermodynamics, which describe the behavior of heat and gases." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13gravity.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Thought this is a sad tale, most parents have no choice these days but to send children home unsupervised. Especially, parents working for minimum wage. Childcare costs will sometimes take an entire salary. Fortunately this scenario doesn't happen to all. Back in my day, we always had neighbors looking out for us. Yes, even in the 50's we had latchkey kids. I love the language in this poem, but the message didn't sit well with me. But, thanks for the read.