A poem which would melt any heart!
"Don’t Ask My Child to Fly"
(A poem by Bruce Ritchie - 1997)
Don’t ask my child to fly,
for he has not wings.
Don’t ask my child to see the glint on the eagle’s beak,
for his vision has been diminished.
Don’t ask my child to remain calm amid the din,
for her ability to screen out the noises has been taken away.
Don’t ask my child to be careful with “strangers”,
for he is affectionate with everyone and prey for the unscrupulous.
Don’t ask my child to “settle down”,
for the clock which works for you and I, does not exist for her.
Don’t ask my child to not play with the toys of others,
for he has no concept of property.
Don’t ask my child to remember you tomorrow,
although you met today.
Don’t ask my child to heal your wounds,
for her hands cannot hold a scalpel or sutures.
Don’t ask my child to meet the challenges set by society,
for you have denied her the tools.
Don’t ask my child to forgive you for standing idly by,
while he was being tortured in his mother’s womb,
for he will,
but He may not.
Foot notes:
Alcohol (wine, beer or liquor) is the leading known preventable cause of developmental and physical birth defects in the United States.
When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, she risks giving birth to a child who will pay the price — in mental and physical deficiencies — for his or her entire life.
Yet many pregnant women do drink alcohol. It’s estimated that each year in the United States, 1 in every 750 infants is born with a pattern of physical, developmental, and functional problems referred to as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), while another 40,000 are born with fetal alcohol effects (FAE).