Amiya's Poetry

My Mom and I went to Amiya's school today to have lunch with her. Upon walking into the main office, we were told by several of the adults that Amiya had just been sent to the office to read a poem she had written. My first thought was, "There once was a girl from Nantucket...." What could she have possibly written about that got her sent to the office?

Here's her poem:

(Untitled)

Earth knows our feelings,
It knows of our sins,
It knows of our loyalty,
But mostly it knows of our cruelty.

Earth sees our engineers building weapons,
Earth sees us training young men for disaster,
But only they and earth
really and truly see our cruelty.

Where have all the young men gone?

Amiya has been reading a great deal lately about the Vietnam War, the peace movement of the late 60s, protests, Veterans' experiences, etc., so it seems that this is related to that. She watched a clip of Peter, Paul and Mary singing Where Have All The Flowers Gone? a few days ago, so that's an obvious inspiration.

How much do I love that we have a sensitive little soul in our midst? That there's one more vote for peace in the world? Am I over-reaching? Maybe. But maybe not. Maybe if this little dynamo of an eight-year old keeps on keeping on, she'll one day have a voice and a pulpit big enough and loud enough to make a difference. And if not, maybe she'll just make a difference in her own little corner of the world. Either way, I'm proud she got sent to the office today.