I looked and saw thousands of children, spilling
over the land, their eyes all alight and shining;
bright as the sunlight on the bright blue sea.
——
They danced and sang as they came, and their
many hued faces laughing with delight – for
these are cheerful children favoured by fortune .
———
I turned and saw a a multitude of small folk
walking to meet them; their gaunt faces and
stumbling gait, like flotsam on a grey sea.
————
Some covered in dust from mines, some worn
thin by slavery, some battered by abuse and still
they come, looking for kindling for their hope.
————
They meet in a garden, fruitful and seed bearing;
all things are possible. And, I see the blindness of
the privilege – as the dancing ones dance on, as
—–
if their world is their right. And the grimness of
loss unreal. Taught so well by their parents and
the guardians of our governments. Their lashes
———–
hid their peeping eyes as they swerved to avoid,
a hand raised to ward off wretchedness and waste,
I watch it -weeping in my soul and praying. Then
——-
a courageous number stop and take the sad hands of
boys and girls, they look into their eyes and learn
of the terrors and terrible pains they have endured.
————
Then together they turn and walk into a future, where
children lead the way to justice, fair shares are for all,
and build a world where every child matters and, yet
—————-
still the others march on, ignoring their oppression,
fearfully, fleeing away from uncomfortable feelings
to a self-centred future where shame has died.
