Think of The Children

Content warning: fatphobia, war, queerphobia, childism, prisons, discrimination

Think of the refugee child, traumatised by war.
Then malnourished in camps, ostracized by right wing media and mocked by their peers 
Think of the disabled child that is a refugee.
The child that feels like a burden on their family. 
The journalists, politicians and military are rarely asked to think of the children. 
Not when they write stories full of racist caricatures 
Not when they orchestrate child poverty by reducing state benefits 
Not when they celebrate the new weapons to destroy the lives of children 
Think of the children shamed for their appearance 
That see food as an enemy, restricting themselves and feeling paranoid of being called fat 
Think of those children when even the state obsesses over "child ob*sity"
When the Pope, pastors, priests and imams declare homosexuality a sin 
No one thinks of the queer children terrified of the consequences of feelings they cannot understand  
When other children use the religious teaching to taunt and humiliate them 
And when some children are burdened with beauty, domesticity and politeness 
No one says think of the children that are scared to be themselves 
Children worried about the shape of their nose, size of their ears and length of their hair
And when resources are hoarded in the west 
Thinking of the children and a few coins in foreign aid is where it ends
Redistribution of wealth to the workers all around the world is rarely considered 
The mental health of poor children is never considered 
Thinking of the children to what end? 
Separating children from their parents 
Separating disabled children from the general population 
Separating the black children from the white children 
Separating the refugee children from the settled children 
Think of the children 
Their parents should not be in prison 
Their caregivers should not be locked away in institutions 
They shouldn't be locked away in institutions 
They shouldn't be in juvenile detention 
Think of the children 
Really think about the children 
Work together to destroy ableism, xenophobia, transphobia, prisons, patriarchy, anti-blackness, white supremacy, capitalism and fatphobia. 
If not for yourself 
For all the children.