I have posted this poem before. It is on a card that my mother bought, decades ago, during another war. This poem, these cards, raised funds to cover medical care and rehabilitation for injured Vietnamese children.
The Feeding
We sit in the darkness
and the baby drinks from you.
Alive!
I cannot
believe it.
We are silent.
Far off, great explosives
stand in hundreds of holes
sucked out of the planet;
millions of men
who might have befriended each other
prowl the earth’s surface
as hunters.
You open your eyes
and look at me
and I see you are crying happily.
The baby sleeps.
You have nourished
what you can, which is
no small triumph
in a starved time.
c.1966 by Lou Lipsitz
Decades on, there continue to be tragedies, in many places. It is overwhelming. I remind myself that each action of respect and health moves us in the right direction, away from hurt, away from hate. These small actions are necessary.
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness… to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” Howard Zinn. #HowardZinn100
This is what I will continue to do. Keep working to build a healthy peace for children and their families.
