for i still know how to love
many times tears of anguish consume me
and you act as if you never knew me
many times i feel that i am getting in your way
but when i get big
i am going away
some day
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
this world you have chosen to reshape
in your ignorance
and your indifference
to the future of me
and my family
my brothers and sisters
and all that we wish for
never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
you see, you were once like me
there were no considerations considered
for our smiles and laughter were unfettered
remember when you dreamed
of simple things
such as climbing a tree
spending hours
picking flowers
or playing in the stream
to drink of it’s waters
were you able
or is that a fable
well, we can not
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
i don’t quite understand many things
and still i look forward
to what each day may bring
the sunshine or rain
though in truth
i could do without the pain
and the needless suffering
this life we now live
and it’s offerings
yet never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
my friend Ron down the street had to move
they lost their home
something about an economy
yes, we were buds Ronny and i
i cried when he went away
i often think about him
and his baby Brother Jimmy
and his Mom and Dad
they cried too
i heard them say
that they did not know
what they were going to do
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
i hear my parents sometimes at night
they never fight for real
but they raise their voices
at each other
and they scream for me to go to bed
i put the pillow over my head
and i dream of better days
like tomorrow
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
Our school they say
might be closing any day
i am happy for that
i think
but what will i learn
if there are no teachers
to teach the class
but it has not closed yet
something about a budget
what will i learn
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
our school playground sucks anyway
why just the other day
i cut my finger
on the swing
the chains were rusty
and i ask how much must we endure
we are only children
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
i remember when
we used to go to the beach
we don’t go there any more
i used to like playing in the water
building my dream castle in the sand
sometimes Mommy would give me a hand
but we don’t go there now
Mommy says there is too much Dirt
and i may get hurt
i asked her
what did the Sand do
or God do
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
my big brother Billy
wants to be a Soldier
he said he wants to kill people
and fly a jet and drop bombs
i don’t get it
who are these people
he hates so much
that is not fun to me
please Mr. President
don’t give a Gun to me
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
well, i am tired of talking now
these things makes my head hurt
and i must go now and rehearse
cause i am going to be a nurse
and make all the people of all the world
every boy and girl laugh again
and we all will be friends
that’s the way God would want it
don’t you think
the way things are now stinks
my friend Ronny moved away
perhaps i will see him again another day
that’s what they keep telling me
and never the less
in spite of your mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
every night i get on my knees
and i pray
i say
God where are you
God please help us
bless our world with more love
and bless my Mommy
and my Daddy
and Ronny
and all the Children
and Big People too
in the whole wide world
and God please remember
never the less
in spite of our mess
i am your child
and i still can smile
for i still know how to love
(c) 25 January 2011 : William S. Peters, Sr.