We Bleed Red!
written by: Saila Abby
@WaddelHope
A place is born,
A place for all to live
Love
Learn
I met the twins hawking,
For money, they wanted to eat, But I stood transfixed.
“Why aren’t you in school?” asked I.
“School is where you should be.”
“No school here!” said the guy.
They thought I had gone off my rocker.
“We want to make money,
So we can be pretty, eat pretty, sit pretty.”
“I’d rather you were in school.”
The twins blinked rapidly thrice.
They seemed exceptionally tired,
And their manner was strangely hostile.
They were not on speaking terms,
Great disdain they noticeably oozed.
Like other kids milling around,
They wanted nothing to do with school.
School is for the gifted and they are not,
As if you measure gifts in school.
So in search of an advocate, I departed,
But before I could leave,
I heard a voice from my side,
“Why are you trying to help the forgotten?”
Stunned, I paused to listen.
“Everyone should be helped,” said I.
The government has given up on us,
So why bother?
Advocacy has a lot,
“We’ve got cases upon cases.
Budgets upon budget.
And it gets worse on the rainy day.”
Leaders fly while we walk,
Battered by the sun and swept by wind.
To save one more invites trouble
We’ve signed a lease to let some go
What’s leadership without negligence
What’s leadership within nonchalance
They stuff themselves full,
Leaving scraps for the masses.
Challenged for a change for the twins.
Boys should be in school.
Then at a gathering presented I my request
“We know a place where boys go to school,
Get you to the InnerCity Mission” reasoned they
I headed towards the end, to the south,
Past some blocks and bricks of buildings.
“Is this the place of change?” I asked,
“We are helpers. No one gets turned away here” they said.
Silently, I passed on the twins.
Whose expression of gratitude is spoken ten thousand words.
As I walked away I heard,
“How many more will you save?”
- We Bleed Red! - July 3, 2024
- Where Have All The Years Gone? - April 12, 2024
