This Child
This child
This happy, chubby child
This smiling, lean child
This crying child
This playing, praying child
This child with only a few yesterdays
But very many tomorrows
Tomorrow beckons and calls out to this child
To walk towards it
This child has the legs to do so
But can barely see the path leading to tomorrow
Today is dark, tomorrow darker
For this child,
The bridge linking today and tomorrow lies broken
***
This child is your child
This child is our child
Our family
This child belongs to us
And we belong to this child
We belong together
***
This child
This hopeful yet fearful child
This tearful yet joyful child
This child with smiling lips and sad eyes
A child whose cry didn’t end at birth
A child whose tears never dried up
A child whose smile remained locked up inside
Is that a radiant smile I can see on this child’s innocent face,
Or is it a painful grimace?
Even if it is a smile and not a grimace,
Is the smile also in the child’s heart?
Or is the child’s heart only home to a throbbing loneliness?
***
This child is your child
This child is our child
Our family
This child belongs to us
And we belong to this child
We belong together
***
This child was born to laugh
Born to run
Born to play
Born to smile
Born to live
But is this child really living?
Or merely surviving
Survival may be for the fittest
But children shouldn’t have to worry
About being the fittest
Is this child really playing?
Or only trying to do so.
Play is the second breath of childhood
This child deserves the first breath that sustains life
And the second breath that enriches young life
Is this child really smiling?
Or merely reflecting an external smile.
The inner smile replenishes joy
Can this child really see a bright future?
Is that future so bright that nothing can dim it?
***
This child is your child
This child is our child
Our family
This child belongs to us
And we belong to this child
We belong together
***
Is this child really being a child
Or simply being called a child without being treated like one
This child is a child
Not a statistic to be analysed
This child is a child
Not a problem to be solved
This child is a child
Not a challenge to be overcome
This child is a child
Not issue to be tackled
This child is a child
Not a crisis to be handled
This child is a child
Not an emergency to be addressed
This child is simply a child
To be embraced
To be loved
***
This child is your child
This child is our child
Our family
This child belongs to us
And we belong to this child
We belong together
***
Remember when you were a child
Remember your mother’s warm bosom
Remember your father’s protective hand in yours
Remember the dinner table chatter
Remember the bedroom clutter of your toys
Remember the playground banter
Remember when you called out through the window
Mama
Why is this flower pink?
Because God made it that way
Mama told you
In that moment
You felt God, mama and the flower
In one moment
Precious memories
The foundation of your life today
This child deserves those memories
Precious memories
That will linger for a lifetime
***
This child is your child
This child is our child
Our family
This child belongs to us
And we belong to this child
We belong together