Poetry Corner: Our Precious Children

POETRY CORNER

– 5/23/18

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

When I began to imagine this Poetry Corner, I was overwhelmed with feelings for recent events, and thought how can we change the world so it is better for children? Our friend Ross Anthony was visiting. We were discussing the problems and how to work with issues to protect and nurture our children. He suggested that the most important thing was to concentrate on this positive and most essential thing; to be always conscious of ‘Our Precious Children’.
Ross gave me these words today to try to explain his feelings:

Hope Personified
Impossibly created unspoiled
You and me, but miniature,
and instead of experience and fear
– pure wonder commands

–Ross Anthony

I think you will feel a common thread of hope and wonder throughout the tanka and cherita I have collected today, to express this awareness of the child in each of us and all the children with their open sensitivity from birth and how we can give them the best, as they give us, with their birth. I feel especially tender on this theme given our dear grandchild.

baby boy
he thinks his name
is I love you (Mariposa, 37)

~ Kathabela​​

Linda Papanicolaou

this precious child
who will not meet my gaze
arms clasped he smiles, hums
body swaying to the songs
of another universe

Ο Ο Ο

Johannes S. H. Bjerg

filling up the ocean
stone by stone
with my grandson
so playfully he ignores
futility

a cake of sand
adorned with grass–
a magnificent gift
from a boy
headed for the future

Ο Ο Ο

Billy-Howell Sinnard

a whale

drawn on the door
of a salt-riddled SUV

a child
dreaming of arctic seas
and high adventure

Ο Ο Ο

Giselle Maya

children are
our flower treasures
nourished
by our care & clear
snowmelt water

Ο Ο Ο

Lois P. Jones

do flowers dream in color
last night I bore the child
I never had
like a dandelion
he grew overnight

Ο Ο Ο

Kathy Uyen Nyguen

another lotus
drawn in chalk
this laughing child
who dreams of dandelions
strewn from distant clouds

Ο Ο Ο

Patty Hardin

the child doesn’t understand why
his mother shoos him from the kitchen
rejecting his offer of a dandelion
she is unaware of a precious moment
lost to her forever

Ο Ο Ο

G​illena​ C​ox​

just a day old
my grand-baby sleeps
growing now
in this sphere of wonder
all else is trifling

Ο Ο Ο

Marlene Alexa

​t​he motionless pine
​f​lies with all its sparrows
​s​ings with all its leaves
​c​hildren and grandchildren
​a​chieve all my dreams

Ο Ο Ο​

Mary Kendall​

one by one
I touched the small cascading hearts—
with child mind
ready to feel
a small heart beat

Ο

Linda Papanicolaou​ is a middle school art teacher in ​the bay area of ​Northern California ​who has​ one or two autistic students in​ her​ classes each semester. Johannes S. H. Bjerg lives in a sleepy village surrounded by ancient burial mounds in Denmark. “Remember the child in you” he says​.​ Giselle Maya is a poet and gardener in Provence, France. Her flowers are indeed her children​,​ given the best of a beautiful life in the mountain air. ​Lois P. Jones is host of Poets Cafe in Los Angeles, California and recently published her beautiful book of poems ​Night Ladder​ ​from Glass Lyre Press. ​Kathy Ugen Nguyen ​lives in Houston, TX, USA​. She says: “​It’s important to see the world in the eyes and heart of the child.​ ​Children can teach and remind us that’s it is okay to laugh at ourselves, get into as many messes as possible, and be Unapologetically​ in love and in awe with the world through the senses.​”​ Patty Hardin ​lives in Long Beach, Washington. She says: “We must embrace the fact that our children are indeed priceless treasures. What they offer us comes from their hearts and is of the most beautiful purity.​”​ Gillena Cox of St James, Trinidad​ says: “​Children are precious gift​s​ to us and wonderful in the arms of parents.​” ​Marlene Alexa lives in Ohio, USA. She says: “Our precious children and grand children lighten our life in so many ways. They give us the courage to face our sorrows and be strong​.”​​ ​Mary Kendall lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina she always says: “I’ve found that the best way to deal with worries is to corral them into a poem”.​ Our friend ​Ross Anthony, who inspired this theme, is an LA-based freelance videographer/editor and writer. As an independent author, he’s signed and sold thousands of books across the USA. Billy Howell​-​Sinnard​​ lives​ in Fort Wayne, Indiana. ​Today he sent me this strong realization, a perfect conclusion to our poetic stream of thought. “​My daughter and three of my grandchildren live with us.​ ​I wrote this thinking of them​​​:​

I keep going,
not through hope anymore
but for others

I’ve only gotten better
because I’ve realized
it’s not me that matters.

It’s you.​”​

Ο Ο Ο

♣ We welcome and encourage your response especially in the form of short poems. You may reply by leaving a comment below.