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This poem is in memory of a little woman who met an untimely death
One year ago: Unique Hadiya Browne (Oct. 11, 1995 – April 3, 2011)

I remember you,
As one too young for the class
I taught after school at Ebenezer Primary that Summer…

I remember something special about you…
You were somebody’s daughter, somebody’s child.
You had your own voice, your soul shone when you smiled…

But fires go out when no one tend them,
When no one seems to care.
Cries languish in the distance,
When there’s nobody there.

Children are meant to be nurtured
Fed regularly, and watered, and talked to,
And cuddled, and corrected, and loved.

They need to see and feel the presence
Of their Guardian angels hovering above
Such a presence is felt and seen in the parents’ love.
No wonder girls lose their innocence at an early tender age,
And boys lose their self-esteem to ignorant, violent rage;
It’s the symptom of despair, it seems,
When there’s nobody there.

Nobody to set clear boundaries,
Nobody to ask how, why or when…
Nobody to offer consolation when you lose a childhood friend.
Nobody to lend a helping hand,
Nobody bridging the gap
Nobody listening to the lisping breath,
Nobody to snatch them from the jaws of death.

It’s a sad, sad situation in our country, island, nation
We are losing the young generation to neglect and degradation
We need to set better example
Reach out more, it is that simple
Help the youths if we see them stumbling
It is for attention they are fumbling.
Who know better should do better
It is our noble task to care
And be present in the instance
When they need somebody there.

By: Ndigo Naka

Copyright © 2012 Sandra Phillip Hodge

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