Poem of the Month

Last night I went thrift store shopping with a friend. It was fabulous! (To go shopping and hang out with said friend. Thanks Helen.) I picked up a new literature text book--I love to collect those things. I turned to the poetry section, and this was the first poem I read. It brings me to tears... I'm crying now... 

Ballad of Birmingham 

By Dudley Randall (1914-2000)

(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)

"Mother dear, may I go downtown 
Instead of out to play, 
And march the streets of Birmingham 
In a Freedom March today?"

"No, baby, no, you may not go, 
For the dogs are fierce and wild, 
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails 
Aren't good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone. 
Other children will go with me, 
And march the streets of Birmingham 
To make our country free."

"No, baby, no, you may not go, 
For I fear those guns will fire. 
But you may go to church instead 
And sing in the children's choir."

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, 
And bathed rose petal sweet, 
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, 
And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know that her child 
Was in the sacred place, 
But that smile was the last smile 
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion, 
Her eyes grew wet and wild. 
She raced through the streets of Birmingham 
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick, 
Then lifted out a shoe. 
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore, 
But, baby, where are you?"

.................................

Image of the aftermath of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing 

The four young girls who lost their lives

I grew up in a small town 25 miles south of Birmingham, AL, but the Civil Rights movement was hardly ever talked about. It wasn't till I moved out West and enrolled in college history classes untill I realized the scope and magnitude Birmingham played in US history. I wonder why this wasn't covered in the 4th grade Alabama history curriculum... maybe too dark and too recent of a past?

The lives lost and the fight of the underclassmen and women is powerful.  I am grateful for all those who have ever fought to change their situation for the better. But sometimes I wonder why this needs to happen; for, in the words of the Beatles, "All we need is love," then "Come together," and just "Imagine all the people sharing all the world."  

Learn more about the bombing here.