They are boys ~ gangbangers, young men

never to be young again

haven't been young for a long, long while,

haven't found many reasons to smile...

Survived the mean streets of the USA

until that fateful September day,

when the world went crazy and  we

 were scared.

They were tossed out like no one cared.

We sent them back to a place unknown;

they don't consider Phnom Penh home.

Exiles ~ Refugees ~ Misplaced ~ Lost

They are just examples of War's steep cost

Bowing to the Buddha at Angkor Wat

I wonder at the lessons they've been taught.

I wonder at the lives that are sadly wasted

how the Freedom of this country tasted

to refugees of that place and her killing fields;

I wonder how loneliness really feels...

They stick together, posturing with fright ~

gangbangers wondering where they'll sleep tonight.