tears, no tears

Fifteen years Iwanted to cry, wished I would,
wanted the comfort of knowing I could.
An elephant dies and I am drowning in choked
emotion, and you say to me, it's
a programme on the t.v, and children in Africa
are dying all the time;so what did you mean?
Should that have been the dam; plugged this
embarassment of riches, dried me up?
You're twelve, with a tortoise shell shielding
you from all the carnage. You see, you just
don't see the point ; all the tears in the world
won't cleanse the pain. You see it true. Unflinching.
I want to be brave like you, wanting to live
never forgettting
how to pitch your weight against the day.