Jaime Kalenga, whose mother died in labor, suffers from malnutrition and tuberculosis. Credit Nicholas Kristof/The New York Times There is a country rich in diamonds, Oil and foreign sports cars I know this – having read it in The Times This is a country in which one child In six will die before the age of five Says The Times’ Kristof But I live in a country that cares About children – Some of us Care so much we call authorities On parents whose children walk Home from the park – alone Keeping our children absurdly safe Ignoring the Angolan mother holding The “twig limbs,” swollen belly, wizened face Of the near carcass that is her child She’s waiting for care from the few who do Those people who come from far off places to nurse and Heal everyone’s children Those people who know that diamonds Are friend to no one The people who recognize The diamond’s sparkle Being stolen everyday From the eyes of babies Leaving in its place a Haunted spectacle, skeletal frame Held together in wrinkled brown Wrappings of skin Share this:ShareFacebookWhatsAppEmailRedditLike this:Like Loading... Related 6 Comments Though I feel that the times or any newspaper, any media, can never do justice to the realities of these situations, I am grateful they exist to remind me, and to make me feel. Thanks for the thoughtful poem. Reply Max, you are right, media provides a small picture – freezing pain & action , almost daring us to feel. I too am glad for media. Thanks for reading. Reply Gwen, I admire how honest you are in your poems! Go, Gwen! Reply Linda, Thank you for stopping & reading my blog. The news seems so full of sadness these days Reply Reblogged this on Gwen's World: Rebellion Among Letters. Reply Thanks again for this poem and reminder, Gwen. Children’s eyes should sparkle like diamonds! Reply Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here... Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Email (required) (Address never made public) Name (required) Website You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change ) You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change ) You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change ) Cancel Connecting to %s Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Δ Post navigation Previous Previous post: THE LIFE LIMITEDNext Next post: In the Kitchen of Memory
Though I feel that the times or any newspaper, any media, can never do justice to the realities of these situations, I am grateful they exist to remind me, and to make me feel. Thanks for the thoughtful poem. Reply
Max, you are right, media provides a small picture – freezing pain & action , almost daring us to feel. I too am glad for media. Thanks for reading. Reply
Gwen's World 
Though I feel that the times or any newspaper, any media, can never do justice to the realities of these situations, I am grateful they exist to remind me, and to make me feel. Thanks for the thoughtful poem.
Max, you are right, media provides a small picture – freezing pain & action , almost daring us to feel. I too am glad for media. Thanks for reading.
Gwen, I admire how honest you are in your poems! Go, Gwen!
Linda, Thank you for stopping & reading my blog. The news seems so full of sadness these days
Reblogged this on Gwen's World: Rebellion Among Letters.
Thanks again for this poem and reminder, Gwen. Children’s eyes should sparkle like diamonds!