Or Were You Once A Child?

Or Were You Once A Child?

©2017 by Alice Walker

If you were once a child

Remember how it was

When the big men

Who were not smiling

Came for you?

They were not soldiers

Then

But uncles, fathers,

Grandpas,

Dentists.

It was their bigness

That scared you.

Now they are coming

Six feet tall

In full battle gear;

You have nothing

Or maybe a tee shirt

And flip flops:

Your face might reach

A belt.

Add to this

The whole world

Ignores you.

We are the world

That has failed the children

Of this planet

Not just in Africa

Most miserably and most long

But most grievously this day

This century

Last century too

The children of Palestine.

Where is the place

We will go to weep

When the time comes

For our own oblivious

Children and grandchildren

To face this terror:

Secure in their gadgets and soccer dreams.

When the big men come wearing dead faces

Guns, knives, scowls

Hats of steel

And

Big boots.

This photo (and others as horrifying), was sent by the beloved Israeli witness, Nurit Peled. Under the title:  Saturday Hunting.  Another photo shows a child with a head injury being held at a check point for five hours. No wonder the children of Palestine are committing suicide at a phenomenal rate.