(From the children
at Bahn Khru Noi)
Her charity heart opens and the kids
Wander in to play
Within the warmth of her smile
And the laughter of her dance
The children touch the truth of her loving day
Count the boys and
girls,
A hundred or more
And measure the smiles they portray
Can you calculate their joy and sense of worth
In terms of GPA?
With compassion, she
awakes each child
To sketch a silly, smiling face
Reflecting their youthful inner joy
Each time she visits their home
She inspires the human way
The children survive
or perish; it is our choice
To take them in our hearts,
Or leave them blank
Our career is humanity
Where children assign the grades
*****
Tom Radzienda lectures
in poetry and culture
at Srinakharinwirot University in Bangkok.
He is experienced in public poetry performance
and poetry writing workshops. Contact him
directly at tom@swu.ac.th
to arrange poetry
recitals at universities, schools, institutes
and other venues. In the subject line,
please write "Poetry Recital."
