My little ones

I can hear their screams 
I can feel their pain 
Their longing breaks my heart 
Day after day 

Yet I can't find them when I go looking 
I don't know how to help them find peace 
Some days they seem to listen 
Some days, the harder I try, the more I fail. 

Who are they? All those voices - 
Mine - and yet not mine
So real and true 
Yet one day here and one day gone 

I want to wait for them 
But time doesn't wait for me 
I need to hurt them so that their suffering 
Will not be in vain 

Will they forgive me, those lost souls 
Who once were me?