Real Men: A Poem by Charlotte

She stares at those strange eyes
She flinches as she hears another girl’s cries.
She knows she’ll die if she says no
But this is a whole world she doesn’t know.
Another night, a different man,
She getting through the torture as fast as she can.
She thinks back to when she received that letter
She said yes, met him, she didn’t know any better.
A year on, she can’t remember when
She last met real men.

This is poem Charlotte wrote, hoping to get across the truth that real men do not buy or sell women; real men do not use women for their own selfish means; and real men would never, never put a woman in that kind of danger.

I am humbled by my daughters’ hearts.  Charlotte for researching and writing about it; Lillie for being moved to tears by her twin’s words.

I am not sure why this particular plight has grabbed these girls’ attention and distress.  Maybe because the stories are of girls not much younger than themselves.  Maybe because they can not comprehend how one human can have that much control over another.

On the one hand I pray fervently for protection over my young girls’ hearts, for their safety and for their innocence.  But on the other, I pray for them to stand strong against oppression, against evil and against those more powerful than themselves.

This is very real.  It is very scary.  And it will take an army of REAL men and women to put a stop to it once and for all.