#42 Just One

Just one

One water bird on the Delaware
flapping in oil

Oh, my heart
stay open for this poor bird--
it is just one.

One family cold, without a home
in a rich land

It is not my greatest wish
to be numb.

One tropical tree, sustainer of life
felled out of greed

We were born to love
and grieve in times of loss.

One scared young man set up to kill
brave to the end

No matter who claims him
I know he is mine.

One starving child in a land far away
facing the end

I cannot save this troubled world,
but surely I am big enough
to hold this one
and weep.


Pamela Haines
3/06


Some things that give me hope:
--People who become more thoughtful and reasonable as you listen to them
respectfully.
--Early childhood program directors, working with limited resources in a
for-profit chain serving the poorest parents, passionately committed to the
well-being of children and hungry for help to do a better job.
--Car share programs that are popping up all over the country.
--Indigenous Bolivian peasants being represented by their country’s
president for the first time.