by Jerrice J Baptiste
 |
The impact of armed conflicts on children around the world reached devastating and likely record levels in 2024, according to an assessment by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). —UN News, December 27, 2024 |
Child searches for sweet embrace
of mother, father or next of kin.
Child finds limbs
along the way, a blueish face once
known, red eyes that stare
into bleak unknown.
You, soak dry mushrooms this season.
Serve warm broth to this child
from a dead zone
while agile mind can still imagine
a world of peace and freedom.
You, gather essence of the earth to feed
desolate orphan, fruits, nuts, seeds
moonbeams for dreams.
Child will need your lap to curl on when
the sounds of night
frighten even ghosts who have seen,
who have heard explosions of hearts.
of mother, father or next of kin.
Child finds limbs
along the way, a blueish face once
known, red eyes that stare
into bleak unknown.
You, soak dry mushrooms this season.
Serve warm broth to this child
from a dead zone
while agile mind can still imagine
a world of peace and freedom.
You, gather essence of the earth to feed
desolate orphan, fruits, nuts, seeds
moonbeams for dreams.
Child will need your lap to curl on when
the sounds of night
frighten even ghosts who have seen,
who have heard explosions of hearts.
Jerrice J Baptiste is a poet, educator and facilitator of poetry for healing and self-expression. Her new book of prose poems is titled Coral in the Diaspora published by Abode Press (August 2024). Her writing has been published and is forthcoming in The New Verse News, Artemis Journal, Urthona Buddhism and Art Magazine, The Dewdrop, Shambhala Times, The Yale Review, Wax Poetry & Art, Black Fox Literary Magazine, Mantis, Penumbra Literary & Art Journal, The Banyan Review, Kosmos Journal, Silver Birch Press, and many others. Her collaborative songwriting and poetry are featured on the Grammy-nominated album Many Hands Family Music for Haïti.
