“She was Six” published at Spillwords Press

On By Mike U.In Poetry

Hey, friends. I’m pleased to let you know my poem “She was Six” has been published at Spillwords Press. Sincere thanks to Dagmara K. and her team for sharing this piece with their readers. I’m grateful for this opportunity.

This piece is a commentary on the global epidemic of violence against children, be it right-wing gun fetishism, gang violence, political and religious warfare, inhumane immigration policies, trafficking or other forms of abuse and neglect. Apparently, at some point humanity has decided the deaths of children is an acceptable form of collateral damage as we attempt to kill each other. We have, indeed, lost our way.

“She was Six”
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley

“she was six
and on the wrong side
of a tyrant’s bomb sights
her small broken body
no match for
the shells
and the hell
that befell
her country
city
neighborhood
block
home
her blood the price
of freedom
she was six

she was six
and on the wrong corner
of the wrong intersection
at the wrong time
as gang-bangers
threw lead
and fled
as she bled
just a typical night
in a typical city
she was six…”

You can read the rest of my poem here:

“She was Six” at Spillwords Press

And once you’re there, take some time to check out the work of many other talented writers at Spillwords Press, where you’ll find a treasure trove of good writing.

62 thoughts on ““She was Six” published at Spillwords Press”

    1. I agree with you completely. It’s insane that we value children so little that we’re content with making them suffer. They didn’t ask for this violent world; we have forced it upon them, and they’re the most vulnerable among us.

      Thank you for your kind support. It means a lot to me.

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  3. The way is definitely lost. No question about it. *Sighs*

    “Apparently, at some point humanity has decided the deaths of children is an acceptable form of collateral damage as we attempt to kill each other. We have, indeed, lost our way.”

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    1. Kindest thanks, Robbie. Your support is invaluable to me and I appreciate you so much. Thank you for the ❤️ at Spillwords, too. It’s very nice of you, my friend.

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  8. Here is another subject that is so incredibly sad and yet more and more children are dying. They are the innocents. I love that SpillWords published this piece, Mike, it is such an important subject. Children should not have to be afraid of dying as they walk down the street. This piece hits close to home as the village in Haiti that I went to several times and worked there were hit about a year ago and escaped along the brackish river but made it to another village that had been established for more than thirty years. Not one child died or was taken but it was indeed a miracle. Thank you for bringing attention to this rise in child deaths, slavery, abuse, bombings, and just random shootings. Thank you SpillWords for continuing to be a pulse on the world’s heart. This piece has a great Cadence to it as well Mike which makes it even more dynamic. Congratulations Mike and I am heading over to read the rest now and to leave my heart.

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    1. Thanks, Joni. It’s difficult reading the news each day and seeing the body counts rise all over the world as violence continues to destroy the most vulnerable among us. Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, the streets and classrooms of America, villages in Africa and Central/South America and Asia… It’s a global manifestation of the rot in humanity’s soul that we seem to accept that violence against kids is simply part of everyday life. Politics, war, religion, the gun lobby, trafficking rings, parental neglect, abuse of all sorts…but hey, they’re just kids, no big deal… There’s a reckoning coming to hold us accountable at some point, and it’s not going to be pretty.

      Thank you as always for your keen insights and support, my friend. Our world is in a very bad way. I hope it’s not too late to change course.

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      1. You are most welcome. I like you, I am certain, read from many reputable News sources. It is such an horrific time in history. I truly believe it is impossible to discuss this subject too much. After all children are our future, and without any stable or healthy children who are free to seek education, and to have a sense of well-being, what is our future anyway?

        Wikipedia reports “that as of July 24, 2025 61,800 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to the Gaza health, ministry and Israeli ministry of foreign affairs as well as 217 journalist and media workers and 120 academics and over 224 humanitarian aid workers. 70% of the Palestinians killed in the residential buildings or similar housings were women and children.”

        Literally newborn babies that have just had their umbilical cord tied off have been killed in raids happening just after their birth. Again, I’m grateful that you’re writing this Mike and that SpillWords published it because I think it’s so important that people that are removed from what’s happening or that have removed themselves mentally. Perhaps we all need to think about, how if we would have just been born, perhaps a different nationality or in a different place, or in the wrong place at the wrong time, as your poem talks about they could be one of those statistics. Have a blessed weekend, my friend.

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    2. Another report from June of this year estimates more than 367,000 people have died globally since our fascist regime shut down USAID, with more than 224,500 of those dead being children. Refusing aid to sick and impoverished children is most certainly a type of violence–a violence of the soul rather than of guns and bombs and fists. Furthermore, an estimated 14 MILLION people will die due to these cuts. It’s almost as if someone in power is attempting to one-up some of the most reviled and heinous dictators of all-time…

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  9. Mike, I am so pleased “She Was Six” has been published by Spillwords Press. It happened to be the first post I read on your blog and I find it as meaningful and powerful now as I did then. Thank you. ♥️

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    1. Hi, Margaret. Thanks so much for your generous support, my friend. I’m glad to know you recalled this poem from before. It truly is devastating to know the most vulnerable among us are treated so inhumanely. We have no valid defense for harming the defenseless. It really does feel as though we’ve lost our humanity.

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    1. Thank you, Peggy. It seems as if we as a species have decided we have “throw-away people,” those whose lives are meaningless and can casually be neglected or eradicated to suit political or military or religious desires, and children seem to be chief among this group. The sheer number of children killed in war zones daily is an abomination, yet corrupt leaders continue to drop those bombs, you know? Another day, another few yards of territory gained, another few hundred kids lying dead in the streets, buried beneath the rubble. It’s grotesque, and a damning indictment on humanity. We’re all going to be held accountable for the way we treat the most vulnerable among us. I don’t know if we can change our ways, but it doesn’t look like it to me.

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    1. Hi, Diana. Yes, this is a disturbing piece, for sure. We treat the most vulnerable among us the worst. I’m reminded of my monster of a father who once refused to take a dog to the vet and instead let the dog die. He said, “It’s just a dog…” I see this same attitude regarding children all over the news. “They’re just kids…” Acceptable losses, no big deal. Keep dropping those bombs, keep selling those AR-15s, keep gang-banging, keep kidnapping village girls in the name of some god or other, keep covering up pedo rings… Sometimes I can’t even articulate the rage I feel when I think about humanity. It’s just too much to bear.

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  12. You’ve done a truly impressive job of putting this outrageous horror into words, Mike! What’s been happening for so long, and how we stubbornly turn a blind eye, even defending the criminals, will haunt our society for a long time to come.

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    1. You’re right, of course, Friedrich, and it’s unconscionable that we–an allegedly advanced species in the 21st century–still casually shrug off this most disturbing facet of (in)humanity. I just don’t know anymore… There seems to be no limit to the atrocities we’re willing to visit upon our fellow humans, particularly the most vulnerable in society (children, elderly, sick, poor, disabled, homeless, refugees, etc.). I just believe we must speak out and do what we can to expose this darkness lest we, too, become consumed by it.

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  13. Maybe we should rethink our religious concepts? Not that this would solve all problems on earth but if we look at our history under this aspect we could better understand some patterns. At the same time I know that’s wasted time as long as those inhuman beeings will never have to stand a trial. And yes….”lest we, too, become consumed by it.”

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    1. Agreed. The power structure inherent in many religions seems to breed corruption, just as it does in any other aspect of humanity, and this corruption leads to some horrendous behavior and cover-ups and lack of accountability, which allows a lot of immoral behavior to perpetuate. I’ve grown extremely wary of “organized religion” over the years for many reasons. I still have some spiritual beliefs but I can’t align myself with any group that allows atrocities to occur to human beings and then claims it’s “God’s will.” I think we need to be better than this, if not for our sake, at least for the sake of children, who don’t deserve the horrors we force upon them.

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      1. Again, not surprisingly, I completely agree with you! This dark side is probably inherent in human nature, and institutionalized religions are just as unprepared to counteract it. What we’re experiencing today worries me greatly. On the one hand, how we seriously want to justify the starvation and slaughter of innocent infants; on the other, because there’s an aftermath, and that can be very gruesome, especially if certain background information becomes public and triggers pent-up anger among the masses.

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  17. Stef's avatar Stefan

    Great poem. I think it’s important for people (and poets) to engage in difficult realities – otherwise nothing will change in the world. Thank you for your contribution.

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    1. Thank you, Liz. It’s a tough subject to tackle, but I can’t be silent about certain things, and this is one of them. When the most vulnerable among us are mistreated, terrorized and killed, we must speak out, I think. If we don’t, why are we even here? How can we call ourselves “human” if we condone the most inhumane acts imaginable?

      This piece was born from a video I watched concerning a Russian rocket attack in Ukraine that killed a six-year-old girl. A medic who frantically tried to save her life was screaming, “Show this to Putin! The eyes of this child, and crying doctors!” It rattled me deeply, the horror of it all, and this poem came out in a hurry. It’s madness.

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    1. Thanks, Jane. It’s a difficult piece, for sure. Some things demand a voice, you know? And if we’re able, we need to meet that call and speak out, make our vioces heard. The sheer horror of everything that’s happening in this world is paralyzing, but silence means complicity, so this poem was born. I don’t know if one voice can make a difference, but my voice is all I have and I need to use it.

      I always appreciate your kindness, my friend. Thanks for your constant support.

      🍁

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  21. Oh Mike, this is so devastating to read, but also devastating to know about. I feel my joy for life is so diminished because I am so keenly aware of and know what is happening so close by to people just like us, by an unimaginable evil. Your piece is so evocative, thank you.

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    1. Thank you so much. It’s truly hard to think about this stuff. I dread visiting news sites each day because I know what I’ll find will be devastating. This carnage must never be normalized by those doing the killing or providing the weapons or by the media covering the events, but as they say in the media, “If it bleeds, it leads,” so people are actually making money of the deaths of humans (media, military-industrial complex, gun lobby, right-wing politicians, Wall Street, etc.). It’s grotesque.

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      1. I dread visiting news sites too Mike. What’s even worse is the rhetoric of these news sites and how biased they are in favour of those carrying out the massacring – and the truth is that you’re absolutely right. LOTS of money is made in war. This is not war though, war is between two armies. This is ethnic cleansing, genocide, intentional starvation and holocaust. They said ‘never again’ and yet here they are. And we are supposed to feel sorry for soldiers committing suicide because they can’t handle that they murdered so many children. Twisted world. Thank you for doing your best to give a voice to the voiceless.

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  22. Mike;

    DAMN! I just read this! It hits HARD and pulls no punches at all. You do in a visceral, inescapable way with this poem what I was trying to intellectualize about in my blog post about justice. You are truly gifted and obviously passionate. I pray our collective passions can unite and move the needle on the horror we currently marinate in. Thank you for this uncomfortable gift.

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    1. Hey, Russ. The act of writing this one was pretty intense. It felt like butterflies in my gut, but it was actually trembling rage. For some background, here’s what I mentioned in my reply to Liz above:

      “This piece was born from a video I watched concerning a Russian rocket attack in Ukraine that killed a six-year-old girl. A medic who frantically tried to save her life was screaming, “Show this to Putin! The eyes of this child, and crying doctors!” It rattled me deeply, the horror of it all, and this poem came out in a hurry. It’s madness.”

      How are we supposed to react in the face of abject horror? Too many people turn away, either from fear or apathy, and let’s be honest–plenty of people delight in this violence. The military-industrial complex, fanatically zealous religious leaders, the gun lobby, right-wing politicians, the AR-15 fetishizing maga cultists, and a whole section of humanity that is degenerate and wholly lacking in morality and compassion. I feel handcuffed and fettered because I’m unable to stop this insanity. All I have are my words, and they seem so impotent, but I must do something. I can’t stand by and write happy-crappy fluff poetry and pretend this isn’t happening. Like you, in your profound and piercing essay on justice on your blog (which I felt conveyed passion and urgency so well), I feel like I need to at least speak out about this and other current events going on here and abroad. One voice in the darkness may be meaningless, but when combined with other like-minded voices, we have a chorus of strength and unity…and hope.

      And I understand that many people won’t speak up because it’s simply too terrible, too intense. Maybe they can’t find the right words, or perhaps they don’t want to rock the boat and draw attention to themselves. We’re now living in an age in this country where dissent is being met with masked Gestapo agents and concentration camps. I believe silence equals consent, and I don’t want to be complicit in what’s happening. So, I plan on continuing to write about these things and hope somehow it makes a difference.

      Thank you, Russ, for speaking out about this on your blog (and I recommend your blog to everyone who reads this comment). Much admiration and respect to you.

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  23. Deeply moving, Mike. Too many children lost to violence. Your poem reminded me of the mass shooting that occurred at a grocery store in Tucson a few years ago, when US Rep Gabby Giffords was shot. She survived; a nine-year-old girl did not. I shopped at that market. Too many stories of senseless violence. 💔

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    1. Thank you, Michele. I remember well that shooting and how senseless it was (as are all shootings). The little girl’s death was beyond tragic, as were the deaths of five other people. Gabby now is a fierce advocate of gun violence prevention legislation (which is constantly voted down by the NRA-aligned political right-wing). You may find more info here if you’re interested:

      https://giffords.org/

      How can we move forward to protect ourselves and our loved ones from gun violence if one major political party is dead-set against passing any laws that will prevent gun violence? It’s crazy. And meanwhile, children continue to die needlessly, senselessly…

      We must do better. There is no other option, lest we lose our humanity.

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  24. Truly powerful, Mike that almost makes me vomit. It’s like everything right now, we turn ourselves into a pretzel for righteousness and lay flowers on coffins that die along with our bleeding hearts! Headed to SP. Congratulations!
    💔

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