82. another baby was bashed to death by its mother & father, so we can sleep easy in melbourne tonight
perpetually in pyjamas, the baby bash case asked nothing of us, he had the biggest brown eyes, for the herald photographer, his lips slightly dropped, above his dirty singlet, one emerging tooth, his face was bruised all over, it was as though he was in shock, as if his whole tiny body held the shock of the fist, as if his mere existence was not to absorb & grow, but to contain the unbearable blunt pain of blows, like a shocked little bird that walks around aimlessly with all its brown feathers broken, three weeks later, he was thumped to death by this father in his cot, whilst his fascinated mother watched, then they got worried & rang for the doctor, for saturday's paper, the face of an unconscious child, that didn't survive, there's a few on every street that just don't, fifty blows to the head, back, chest, & stomach, cigarette burns & safety pin wounds, this little guy had a torn liver, the life support system was switched off, another baby was bashed to death by its mother & father, so we can sleep easy in melbourne tonight |
