What Good Are Our Tears?

What Good Are Our Tears?
by Michael R. Burch

What good are our tears?
They will not spare the dying their anguish.
What good is our concern
to a child sick of living, waiting to perish?

What good, the warm benevolence of tears
without action?
What help, the eloquence of prayers,
or a pleasant benediction?

Before this day is gone,
how many more will die
with bellies swollen, wasted limbs,
and eyes too parched to cry?

I fear for our souls
as I hear the faint lament
of their souls departing ...
mournful, and distant.

How pitiful our "effort,"
yet how fatal its effect.
If they died, then surely we killed them,
if only with neglect.

I wrote this poem for children who are suffering from starvation, malnourishment, and neglect in places like Afghanistan, The Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Gaza, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Sudan, Timor Leste, Yemen and Zambia. Keywords/Tags: Child, Children, Neglect, Poverty, Malnourishment, Starvation, Illness, Disease, Death, Lament, Tears, Prayers, Action

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Many an individual person has shed tears over the plight of starving and sick children in the parts of the world you have mentioned. Individuals can't do much in their own. Governments can make a difference if they choose to act. Sadly it is often left to charities. Your lines ask the questions. The answers are blowing in the wind. Sadder then sad.

Chris

[Michael R. Burch]

We can all do something. I became a peace activist with a focus on helping Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank. I wrote the lyrics to "The Children of Gaza" which has been performed by the Palestinian soprano Dima Bawab in Europe, to raise awareness. So I am a believer in acting as well as encouraging, and individuals can act, although of course governments can and should do more.

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

This is beautiful indeed
I wish we could help them all but it starts off helping one I suppose
Beautiful indeed wish I could share your poem on f b or twitter with recognition to you of course x

[Michael R. Burch]

Hi Julie, thanks for taking the time to read and comment. You're more than welcome to share the poem if you cite me as the author. I've had quite a few poems go "viral" on the internet, and I always consider it an honor when people take the time to share my poems. We can help children individually, or we can join organizations that help them collectively. I became a peace activist with a focus on helping Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank. I encourage everyone to do a little, and together we can do a lot. Of course money helps, but there are other ways to help if money is short.

[Julie McCarthy (juliespenhere)]

Ok shall do great x write some more

[Michael R. Burch]

When I was a teenager my English teacher wrote "This poem is beautiful!" beside one of my early compositions. Convinced that I was the second coming of Percy Bysshe Shelley, I proceeded to deluge the world with poems. With over 5,000 publications, including poems that have gone viral, I call myself "one of the world's most-published complete unknowns." So it's dangerous to suggest that I write more! :)