for i still know how to love

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.