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.
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.)
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!
Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
Thank you for the share!
You do write some interesting things.
I try, and I will continue to try…
😎
I loved it I loved it !!
Thank you so much! They are words close to my heart.
Much love Tanya 🙂
<3
Chhaya
And to you, Chhaya!❤😊
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!!!!!!
Thank you! There are a lot of hurting people in the world, many of them children. We must continue to find ways to help them.
I so very much agree!!!!
😊❤
Suffering should always have a human face.
Agreed, Cathleen. They are our brothers and sisters…our children.
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
🙂
Thank you, Steve! I would love it if you re-blog it. This one is close to my heart.😊
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…
🙂
Well, you succeeded in sending the warm air and sunshine my way! It is beautiful here. I have most of my windows open! Have a great day too, Steve!😊
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…
🙂
I will! You do the same, and please send more sunshine…Lol
I’m out here now catching you guys a few “rays” with my sunbeam collector. It’s quite a contraption to say the least!
🙂
Yay! Send them over!…Lol😊
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…
🙂
Yes! Please. I have a lot of tree cover in my backyard, so we don’t get too much exposure!😊
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! 🙂
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!😊
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?
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! 😊
Sounds like a good time on your deck, Tanya. Is the weather getting nicer these days yet?
The weather has been beautiful. I have windows open and everything is getting green outside! It’s a pretty time of year.
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!
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!
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…
🙂
I agree! Have a great weekend, Steve.😊
Hope you enjoyed your weekend, my friend. They go by so quickly, don’t they!
They do, Steve! Enjoy the rest of your Monday! 😊
🙂
Reblogged this on Light Ministry Blog.
Thank you for sharing this, Steve!
It was my absolute pleasure, Tanya. I will be looking for more of your renderings to share…
Steve
Thank you so much, Steve!
🙂
So touching, beautiful, powerful …
Thank you so much! This was a piece close to my heart.😊
And it reached mine 🙂 All my pleasure.
Thank you for sharing that! It means a lot to me!😊
Powerful Tanya, just powerful
Thank you, Manuel! This one came straight from my heart. Your words mean a lot to me.
I can tell Tanya, I can tell
Have a great night!😊
Powerful.
Thank you very much!
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.
Thank you, Davy! Horrified is a good word for it. The indifference to human suffering is appalling. They are our brothers and sisters…our children. We must do better.
In total agreement Tanya. Maybe the words of poets may be more powerful than the politicians.
We can hope, and we can keep writing.
So perfectly put in such a captivating and touching way. They truly are OUR children! Such an important message that is, unfortunately, always relevant and reminders are very necessary.
Thank you! I agree. We have to keep speaking out. If we don’t, who will.
We also need to get our hands busy helping. There are so many people in need.
Definitely!
Have a great day!😊
Very moving … we have been so lucky … thinking back to WWI, my grand-father was gassed early in the war … it took him 35 years to cough the rest of his lungs up, a piece at a time …
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.
Sorry to hear about your dad, Tanya. The horrors of chemical warfare, even by accident …
I agree, Roger. The horrors of war…
I should have added ‘super photo’ … how can we hurt such beauty, deliberately, carelessly, and what do we think we mean by <>? So many questions …
I think, because we don’t see them as “our own”. They all are.
The diamond should contain the words “collateral damage” … sorry …
It’s too bad that they are viewed that way, isn’t it? Hard to understand…
I’ve loathed that term for years, ever since I realized what it meant!
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.
“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.
I agree completely. It is a heartless term for heartless acts, a numbing word for what should rightly horrify us.
It might be a good term to attack with the pen…
You’re giving me a few ideas….
Same here!
The linguistic cover-up: it’s like counting bbs (body-bags).
It is, Roger!
Oh, yes. Infuriating.
The diamond should contain the words “collateral damage” … sorry …
We also need to get our hands busy helping.
Absolutely! That’s the whole point of the poem. If we see them as “our children”, we will step in and do something about it.
Interesting format. Nicely done.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked it.
You’re welcome.
How are you today?
Enjoying my weekend! The weather here is beautiful. I hope you are doing the same!😊
Worked all weekend but I’m enjoying the outdoors in short bursts on my commute. Just appreciate what I’ve been given. ☺
Wishing you some R&R. You have a good attitude about it. That counts!😊
Thank you.
Enjoying the little moments keeps us in the present. There is beauty all around us we just have to appreciate it. 🌷
Absolutely!😊💐❤
Reblogged this on Space, Time, and Raspberries and commented:
Are we finally ready to ask these questions?
Tanya Cliff shows us how to find the answer.
Thank you, Sue! That means a lot to me. They are all our children…
Thank you, Tanya. Maybe now we’ll help.
It really is a heart issue. Thank you, again, for the share and encouraging words!
You are welcome, Tanya. <3
Have a beautiful weekend, Sue!❤
You also, Tanya.
I will!😊❤
A powerful poem, Tanya. Such a sad state of our world that humans see children as expendable.
Thank you so much! This one was close to my heart, and I agree with you completely.
This is deep!
Thank you so much, Mary! It was for me also.
Oh wow! Very powerful and heartfelt! 💔
Thank you so much! This piece is very close to my heart, and I’m glad you felt it that way! ❤
Timely, exact, and rightly disturbing
Excellent
Thank you so much, Taruna! It should be disturbing, shouldn’t it? Your words mean a lot to me!
A call to action so sorely needed. Thank you for your powerful words Tanya.
Thank you, Steph! Action is the right word. We have care enough to DO something. I appreciate your comment!
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.
We should be both thankful and perturbed that this is such a big “if.”
Thank you! Yes, indeed…
Oh wow! Such an amazing piece of writing!
Thank you so much! This one was close to my heart! I’m thrilled you liked it.😊
It’s always a pleasure to appreciate such a talent 🙂
It means a lot to me! Have a wonderful week!😊
you too!! 🙂
😊