John Bernard Croak
Grade 6
2010
Art inspired by Deb Murray’s
Children’s Rights Poetry Collection
Poetic Justice
Against the Wind
What should I do
To let you know
When I am hurting
Skin and bones deep?
I know that you love me
More than chocolate ice cream and bananas
Because you tell me every day
But sometimes even the innocence of the wind scares me
As it flies by full speed ahead
What should I do
To let you know
When I am hurting
Heart and soul deep?
I know you love me more than all the dollars in the world
Because you show mw every day
But sometimes even when my heart scares me
Pounding inside my chest like a drum.
Sometimes I desperately chase the wind
As it flies by full speed ahead.
What should I do
to let you know
when I am wondering
where the wind that I am chasing
will finally take me?
I’m Born Free
I’m born free…
As free as the dragonflies hovering above the clothesline…
As free as the sound of happily crashing waves
As free as the poetry of a babbling brook
And free as the birds that rain down on my own backyard feeder.
I’m born free…
As free as changing your mind at the last minute
As free as a heart beating wild in a race
As free as the beautiful colors on a rainbow palette.
I’m born free…
As free as imagination will take me
As free as the winter wind that carries me along
As free as the shadows that chase me behind my back
As free as the beauty of a panoramic, mountain view.
I’m born free and I’m born lucky
If there was a world-wide game of Red Rover
any time soon
I’d call you over
from wherever you are
so that you could be born free
with me.
What’s Right?
What’s right
and what are rights?
Some people get up in the morning
not even realizing
how truly lucky they are
they look for good luck in their lives
and they have no idea
that they are it.
Some people count on miracles
and some doubt that they even exist
some people just expect miracles to happen…
I know I do.
Some people count their blessing out loud
but other must do it by accident in their heads.
In many places in the world there are kids with no family
no home and no last name even.
They stare through imaginary windows
dreaming of something other kids like me
watch every day
and may even click the remote to cancel out.
I know what’s right
and I know what rights are.
I also know that I should be standing in line
with six billion other people
who know the same thing.
I Have a Question
I am shorter than the average kid my age
they say that it’s because of my genes…
will you make jokes about me?
I am slightly over- weight
because of medication I need to take…
will I stick out like a sore thumb?
I wear glasses that look like bottles…
I need them to see the smile on your face…
will there be one there for me?
My legs are made of special metal
and I can take them completely off…
can I still be part of your team?
I can’t afford to wear brand-name clothing
my foster family is rich, but only in love..
will I blend in nicely when the picture is taken?
I know what you are saying to me
but because my voice is sadly locked inside
I can not reply…
will I ever be understood?
I hear the music through my feet
and know by instinct that the song is beautifully sung…
will you ever ask me to dance?
I Have My Rights You Know!
You can’t make me do it
I know you can’t
I have my rights you know!
You can’t make me clean up after myself
because I should certainly know better…
I’m only 4.
You can’t make me share my toys with my little brother
just because he always shares with me…
I’m only 5.
You can’t make me do my homework right after supper
even through you are always available then to help me…
I’m only 6.
You can’t make me put my dirty clothes in the basket
even if I try pretending they are basketballs heading towards the hoop
I’m only 7.
You can’t make me turn off the television and go to bed
just because my eyes are wearing hoods of their own…
I’m only 8.
You can’t make me brush my teeth every day
and floss to save my beautiful smile…
I’m only 9.
You can’t make me keep the noise level down
to a nice inside voice for once…
I’m only 10.
You can’t make me shovel the driveway in the bitter Cape Breton cold…
I’m only 11.
You can’t make me smile when Aunt Myrtle gives me
home-made socks again for Christmas
even if they took her a week to do for heaven’s sake…
I’m only 12.
You can’t make me do it
I know you can’t.
I have my rights you know…
right?
Rainbow
I am a rainbow
that your eyes may not open wide enough
to see.
Unless you stop exactly long enough
to take it all in,
I may simply look like just another crayon
accidently pulled from a box of life
and pushed back in
for being the wrong shade.
I am a rainbow
that your eyes may not open wide enough
to see
Unless you like to color outside the lines
you may not even look for me at all.
I am a rainbow
and I am also a box of crayons
that has been spilled on purpose
right beside you
and I am patiently waiting
for your eyes to see me
and to choose me
And to smile.
Different?
Someone told me that I am different
that I don’t belong and that I never will.
Well, they are right in some ways…
I am different as marble and sandstone
as different as an ice cube
that dares to try floating in molasses soup
as different as yesterday from today.
I am different in so many ways
that I can’t even count them myself.
My eyes see wizards in the clouds
and rocks shaped like Japan along the roadside.
They see a path left behind as a sparrow flies by
and birch trees breathing inside the bark.
If being different is a bad thing
then I do not want to ever belong
to a group that marches along like lemmings might do
in a ragged uniform of their own making.
We have the right to be ourselves
to plant flowers in the storm of indifference
to blow bubbles in the winds of change
and to hold hands and skip in the moonlight
if we want.
Absolutely Innocent
I think the law says I’m innocent until proven guilty so…
I guess I didn’t leave the car door open
so the raven could get inside to build his nest
and I didn’t leave the wet towels on the basement floor
trying to determine what that awful smell was.
I guess I didn’t leave the fridge door slightly open
so that I could find out once and for all
who turns the light off inside
and I didn’t tie my kid sister to the swing set
so I could practice for my Boy Scout outdoor skill badge.
I guess I didn’t autograph
the underside of the kitchen cupboards
so that we could all laugh about it in years to come
and I didn’t read my comic books till midnight
by the light of dad’s emergency flashlight.
I didn’t blame my older brother unjustly
any time, any where, ever
and I didn’t listen in on the extension phone
as mom ordered my surprise birthday gift through Sears
last week.
I didn’t track the mud into the living room
after riding through puddles
testing water displacement properties for science class
and I didn’t paint the target on the side of the barn
just a little bit too close to the window.
I think the law says I’m innocent until proven guilty so…
You do believe me right?
Remembrance
I can remember when I was young…
you would hold my hand
as I tried to walk on rubber legs.
I can still hear you screaming out for joy
when I let go, even though I fell afterwards.
I remember the smell of powder being sprinkled on
and your nose against my belly blowing bubbles.
I sometimes find my feet magically dancing
to a tune that comes, not to my lips, but to my heart…
a song about a mockingbird and how I should hush.
I can remember when I was young…
people staring at me with a toothless grin
and faces like a mask telling you I was a spiting image.
I sometimes find my feet magically walking
In rug worn circles as the clock ticks time for sleep.
Now that I’m 10 and all grown up to be myself
will you still scream out for joy
when I take a first step on my own?
Because of how you love me
I will always remember to love back.
Will you remember too?
Me Promises
These are some of the me promises I have made:
I will not be afraid to be myself
once I find out who I am
When I hear things I don’t quite believe
I will patiently wait for the evidence I need
to turn my believer’s light on.
If I make mistakes a lot
I promise to uphold my rights to do so.
I’ll continue to trust you
with my heart and soul wrapped around each other
unless,
for some reason,
you cause me to feel differently.
I will grow at my own rate and speed
and I will slow down
when potholes in the road of life
threaten to swallow me.
When I look in the mirror
I will be best friends with the child staring back at me
and I will never doubt
that I am as important
as important can ever be.
Tell Me When
When is it ok to put the book away
and run barefoot in the field you are reading about
or to drop the broom
and play hockey with the dust balls you are sweeping?
When is it ok to stop making the bed
and climb inside the blankets to hide from
imaginary dragons and trolls
or to stop taking the garbage can out
and use its lid as a well-brandished shield
in a medieval joust?
When is it ok to stop washing the dishes
to test the floating capacities
of an air tight plastic container
or to simply play a game at all
though there is much work yet to be done?
When I am really old
like..let’s say..fifty
I hope that I am a still asking these same questions
right out loud!
I’d Rather Not
I’d rather not go to school today…
my pet tarantula has a fever…
the sky is way too blue…
and my socks have totally squished my toes into a knot.
I’d rather not go to school today…
my homework got eaten by gargoyles…
the sun is dangerously bright
and my teacher is trying my patience to the limit.
I’d rather not go to school today…
my book bag has dissolved into thin air…
the wind is blowing in the wrong direction…
and I haven’t got a single thing to wear!
I’d rather not go to school today…
my legs are strawberry jelly…
the forecast call for especially wet rain…
and my freckles are really, really sore.
I’d rather not go to school today…
my throat has a hibernating frog in it…
the clouds are painting pictures that scare me…
and I’m afraid you’ll miss me too much when I am gone.
I’d rather not go to school today…
but I will because somewhere in the world right now
there’s a kid my age who’d love to
and cannot!
My Family Tree
My family tree isn’t growing in my yard
like a typical tree does
it’s growing inside my house.
My parents say we are Canadian
but that we are also from places far away
like England, Scotland, France, Ireland and Poland.
In my class at school
the trees are a forest of diversity
some kids come from places
I had never heard of before
like: Antigua, Cameroon, Costa Rica and New Guinea.
Where in the world is Polynesia anyway?
Does it snow in Montevideo?
Is there a drought in Taipei?
The family trees of my classmates
make a strange orchard
that water itself
through tears of pride
and joy.
Want To, Need To, Have To
I want to be a popular movie star…
I need to be the best me I can be…
I have the right to dream.
I want to ride a shiny, new, expensive bike…
I need to lock my flea market hand- me –down model every night…
I have the right to hope for change to happen.
I want to jump and play all day…
I need to share the work-load with others…
I have the right to some time just for me.
I want to be an astronaut…
I need to be realistic
I have the right to imagine
that no matter how farfetched an idea seems
just maybe I can make it come true.
I want to swim in a secret sea
and ride the waves as a dolphin…
I need to be patient as I grow and learn new things…
I have the right to believe that miracles ca
and will happen
even to me!