Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Mellie's Brellies

A typical day I’d never say
was ever spent to repent
in a room in a box
on a block in the Bronx
with a vision I’d say
Heaven sent.

For once upon a gritty city,
blocky gray, I’d say, but pretty
in a way the witty might perceive.
It took a kid, a tyke, a tot,
a pretty girl or gritty pearl
to see what’s there or not.
Some called her Mellie, I believe.

Up’s where there’s blue,
the witty all knew,
in that Heavenly sky, it’s true,
and rainbows that arc
green trees’ tippy tops,
whereas Down, as they’d say,
was nothing but gray:
streets, sidewalks, and roofs of shops.

But pitty pat and tippy tap
rain pellets draw a different map
on her window: another view.
Now Up is gray, I’m sad to say,
a dreary day, it’s true.
Whereas Down—don’t frown—
you’ll see a town once gray
become something new.

A ticky tock calls 3 o’clock,
and Mellie knew as few would do
what happens when the schools unlock
a rush of kids and their play-fellas.
It’s the rain, I’ll explain, the magical rain!
It blooms gray blocks into gardens
of umbrellas.

Copyright © 2018 Cynthia G. Wagner

Image by rock_rock/Pixabay

Love, hosaa
explaining the raining

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Somalia's Children

Education and children's advocate Clay Aiken recently returned from a Unicef mission to Somalia to observe and report on the status of children in this "forgotten" country, "one of the poorest and most volatile countries in the world."

He reports on his mission in the UnicefUSA field notes blog. He writes:
One of the most incredible things I learned on my trip is that there are only 350 doctors left in the entire country, mostly because of the violence and insecurity. And many of these doctors are older than the average life expectancy in Somalia, which is only 45. I can't help but wonder, what is going to happen in a couple of years when there are no more doctors? What will happen to the children who struggle to survive?

Read more on how Unicef is helping in that struggle to survive: UNICEF Seeks Emergency Support for Somalia's Undernourished Children.

















Clay Aiken in Somalia. Photo by Denise Shepherd-Johnson, UnicefUSA