Poems

I watched a short film
about children ages 8-10
talking about the value of poems.

Simple verses, some rhyming
some not, trying to elicit an emotion

in as few words as possible…
like prose but not
like songs but not
sometimes like a knot
to be untangled and set free.

The children all agreed
poetry takes getting used to
and it’s okay to be inspired
by poems to; draw a picture

or set it to music,
because a good poem,
kept in memory,
can be recited completely,
or read aloud by anyone -

all the way to the end.
Maybe quote a few lines

to crystallize a thought
or express an emotion

or a succinct comment
to a unique situation.

After viewing the movie
I watched another short film about an earthquake in China
… a documentary about the loss of 10,000 children
killed in an earthquake of unequaled proportions in 2008.

It wasn’t the natural disaster that claimed the kids’ lives
but the fact schools were built without mortar and re-bar
and like houses of cards they fell,
killing the only child of so many families.

Mothers and fathers pleaded for justice
but when they challenged their government
about local corruption they were told

the circumstances had to kept from the world,
they must handle the situation themselves, no need
to embarrass the nation with public demonstrations.

The fire in their bellies died
...snuffed out when they complied.