And who....

[PrinceMyshkin]

Who will build up the cities
the bombs have razed?
Who will save us from the people
crazed with hunger and despair?

Who will make the foul air
fit again to breathe?
Who will correct us when we seethe
and glower when we should have smiled?

And who will shoe the barefoot child?

[ampoule]

Me
We

I guess we will have to save us from ourselves.
I also ask when and why. My answer in a more global fashion would be to paste your poem upon every billboard. And people would ask far and wide, "Who is this Prince?"

The answer comes to me in the following bible passage also, that whatever I do for the least, I do for all. It's a snail's pace though, I know.

Matthew 25:35 Gospel

35 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

37 Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'"

40 The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

At least I can give a pair of shoes.
At least I can teach my preschoolers to not throw their toys, to share their cookies, to not litter the beautiful earth, to not pout when things don't go their way but to get up and always try again.

It begins in the sandbox. It begins at grandpa's feet when he chooses which stories to tell. We cannot change each other but we can teach our children well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pphVs8bF0

[PrinceMyshkin]

Me
We

I guess we will have to save us from ourselves.
I also ask when and why. My answer in a more global fashion would be to paste your poem upon every billboard. And people would ask far and wide, "Who is this Prince?"

The answer comes to me in the following bible passage also, that whatever I do for the least, I do for all. It's a snail's pace though, I know.

Matthew 25:35 Gospel

35 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

37 Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'"

40 The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

At least I can give a pair of shoes.
At least I can teach my preschoolers to not throw their toys, to share their cookies, to not litter the beautiful earth, to not pout when things don't go their way but to get up and always try again.

It begins in the sandbox. It begins at grandpa's feet when he chooses which stories to tell. We cannot change each other but we can teach our children well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pphVs8bF0

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:10)

How it touches my heart to be in contact with you, whose goodness I can feel right through this screen!

[qimissung]

This takes my breath away. It is only when we learn to ask questions of ourselves that we begin to learn at all. Thank you, Prince, for this.

[~Sophia~]

And who will shoe the barefoot child?


So many questions and the answer always comes back to us. Nice job Prince.

[PrinceMyshkin]

So many questions and the answer always comes back to us. Nice job Prince.

Thank you.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Forgive my egotism in bumping this but I was hoping it would have more readers.

[windblown]

Yes, Prince, we need to ask ourselves all these questions, and as ampoule and Sophia have said, it is up to us to find answers, to find ways how we can become active in making the world a place worth living in. I would, however, re-phrase some of your questions: To the first one I would add "And who will stop more bombs from razing yet other cities?" The second sounds to me as if you were more afraid of the poor and hungry than of those who make them starve. I would put it the other way round: "Who will save the people crazed with hunger and despair from us and our greed?"

[Silas Thorne]

I love the way rhyme connects up the second and third parts, and how razed and crazed connects the first section. The poem reminds me a little, sensewise, of William Blake, particularly the last line. I also like the way the last line can be seen in terms of one's own children, or the children of others.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I love the way rhyme connects up the second and third parts, and how razed and crazed connects the first section. The poem reminds me a little, sensewise, of William Blake, particularly the last line. I also like the way the last line can be seen in terms of one's own children, or the children of others.

Good grief! You liken me to St. Blake?



London
I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:

How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.

But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Yes, Prince, we need to ask ourselves all these questions, and as ampoule and Sophia have said, it is up to us to find answers, to find ways how we can become active in making the world a place worth living in. I would, however, re-phrase some of your questions: To the first one I would add "And who will stop more bombs from razing yet other cities?" The second sounds to me as if you were more afraid of the poor and hungry than of those who make them starve. I would put it the other way round: "Who will save the people crazed with hunger and despair from us and our greed?"

Ideologically, I agree with you 100% and I apologize for subordinating the points you'd have had me make to the rhyme scheme.

[windblown]

No need to apologize, Prince, it's a good poem - otherwise I wouldn't have commented.

[Silas Thorne]

:lol: No, I didn't say that. Of course, you are your own man.

I mean the simplicity and generality of the lines reminds me of Blake, and so does that last line.

[PrinceMyshkin]

:lol: No, I didn't say that. Of course, you are your own man.

I mean the simplicity and generality of the lines reminds me of Blake, and so does that last line.

I didn't in the least take it amiss that you likened me to Blake. He's one of my heroes. Blake, Burns, Yeats...

[Silas Thorne]

No, I knew that, that was why you wrote St. Blake. ;) Just wanted to clarify if you thought it was too much to compare you to Blake overall, which I wasn't.

Everyone is their own person, although as a person, connected to the society of people. Your poem seemed to me to be about this too. Sorry if I'm expressing myself poorly. :)

[PrinceMyshkin]

Everyone is their own person, although as a person, connected to the society of people. Your poem seemed to me to be about this too. Sorry if I'm expressing myself poorly. :)

And yet... and yet I've long had a perverse impulse to rewrite a certain piece of piety: Every man is an island...

And may I use this space to add to the admiration I expressed re your road-kill poem: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42495