Here's a great poem by Henry Bechtold.
| There are children in the darkness Who have not seen the light There are children in the darkness Who someone will teach to fight Chalk and blackboards will not be To this door there is no key From this life they can not flee And these children are not free Could we simply light a candle Could we give them half a chance Could we teach them how to read Could we teach them how to dance Or will a war consume them Their body and their soul Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole Back into the darkness From which there is no flight Back into the darkness Into which there shines no light by Henry M Bechtold Henry M Bechtold was in Vietnam during 1967 - 1969. He often visited Vietnam as his soul was in Vietnam. He was sitting in his hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009 and he was trying to write a poem about the girls who work in the park and how badly men treated them. He was angry but was unable to write anything that did not sound trite or weak. Looking at the television, he did not know what the news reader was saying but in the background there was a photo of a small boy wearing a helmet and holding an automatic rifle. This poem flowed out. The words just came to him and he typed as fast as he could to get it all down. The poem talks about helpless children living in the war, where their childhood is taken away from them and they have to become premature "adults", learning to defend themselves and live independently instead of leading a normal, joyful childhood. Sit back and enjoy the poem. |
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