If

If
If it
If it were
If it were your
If it were your children’s bellies grumbling
of course you would feed them
knead stone into bread
until your fingers bled trying
can you squeeze water from clay?
filter impurities away?
with your skin?
steal shelter from garbage bins?
build scrap-tin walls with a cardboard roof
until it rains
filling puddles with the rust
of poverty’s chains
to what land would you flee?
if bombs showered your home?
all order violently destabilized
carry your children on your back
so you might keep their dead bodies from dying
for another day or two
how much time can you purchase?
when you can’t even buy food?
If it were your children’s bellies grumbling
If it were your
If it were
If it
If

~

Words and Photography ©2017 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Posted in poetry & free verse. Bookmark the permalink.

118 thoughts on “If”

  1. So very, very powerful, Tanya… Words fail me. Oh, how many situations exist in our world today to which one could apply your poignant verses! This one deserves a poetic medal of honor, my friend! (And the accompanying photo is perfect, of course.)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Jonathan! Your words are really encouraging for me. There are so many people, so many children, in need. Healing and solutions come when we love them as our own. Everything else fall short. Have a wonderful day, my friend! And thank you, again!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. I can so resonate with your feelings. These things tear at my soul and you described them in a way that really sums up the tragedy that tears at we that are helpless and want so badly to do something for these babies!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Hi Tanya! Another poem so well written…it says so much in your usual excellent way! I’m going to reblog it on my site if you don’t mind…

    Steve

    🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I think much of what you write is close to your heart, Tanya. You are just made that way…and you are such a good writer! Enjoy your day, it’s a blessing from God…

        🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Glad you like the sunshine, Tanya! We have plenty more to share; sunshine is one thing we have in abundance much of the year! Have a groovy day, my friend…Lol…

        🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      5. I’m out here now catching you guys a few “rays” with my sunbeam collector. It’s quite a contraption to say the least!

        🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      7. I suppose you want the XL jar of sunbeams? We have so much sun that a number of our senior citizens have skin surgeries for melanoma. So don’t go crazy with all those sunbeams! Just a little warmth and a touch of color…

        🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      9. So you have a lot of privacy in your yard. That’s better than the fences which guard most back yards out here. One XL bottle comin’ up! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      10. Excellent! Thank you! I have so many trees in the back that once the leaves come in, you can’t even see the neighbor’s house. It’s my sanctuary. Have a great day, Steve, and thanks for the sunshine!😊

        Liked by 1 person

      11. It must be a very nice place to just “chill.” Do you like to be left alone out there, or do you prefer some company?

        Liked by 1 person

      12. With my children running around, I’m rarely alone…Lol
        I enjoy company, but I like my family’s quiet times too. When the weather gets nice, we will sit out on the deck with lots of candles until late…sometimes with company…sometimes just us. Have a beautiful weekend, Steve! 😊

        Liked by 1 person

      15. Hey, try 87 degrees and warming out here! I’m watching the roses bloom in our garden. We have several different colored bushes…WOW! I’ll bet your place really “rocks” right now!

        Liked by 1 person

      16. We aren’t close to having roses yet, but my spring flowers are up. It’s cool today but nice. If I can open a few windows, I don’t complain. Have a great day and stay cool!

        Liked by 1 person

      17. Now that’s a great attitude! Being content in your circumstances; we should all practice that. We’d be a much happier bunch of folks…

        🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  11. You should be given a slot to read this out at the United Nations Tanya. Not only horrified by the pictures coming out of Syria at the moment, but by the sitting on hands rhetoric coming from senior officials all amounting to doing nothing.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. How horrible! My dad was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. He died at a young age of a cancer normally experienced late in life.
      Thank you regarding the poem! This one is close to me heart.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Agreed, Robert. It reduces flesh and blood, unique humans to statistical by-products…numbers and not names. Each one of those people had a place and purpose, an individual note to play in the great human symphony.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. “Collateral damage” is people! It sounds so innocuous. Oh, yeah, that collateral damage. Not the murder of an innocent wedding party or family gathering. Collateral! Argh! As one who believes in and works with precision in language, this pains me to no end.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Worked all weekend but I’m enjoying the outdoors in short bursts on my commute. Just appreciate what I’ve been given. ☺

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Thank you.
        Enjoying the little moments keeps us in the present. There is beauty all around us we just have to appreciate it. 🌷

        Liked by 1 person

  25. Thank you! That means a lot to me, and I couldn’t agree more. This piece is close to my heart. This view of people, of children, as “ours”, demands that we do something about the problems. I think many people become overwhelmed at the magnitude of these problems and forget that lives are changed one meal at a time, one person at a time.

    Like

    Reply
  27. Pingback: Poets Tanya Cliff & Siren Whispers – The Militant Negro™

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