Scholar's Corner

HELP TO THOSE IN NEED.

As I walked down the block in north street,

She crawled to me with intent;

She looked up at me, Eyes so dark and empty;

She raised both hands held together and said;

“Please, Sir.” She got my attention.

Before she could finish, came limping the other;

So meek, so lost, so thin;

“Help us” he said;

“Whatever we get we take” she added.

Knowing my state, I hesitated;

In that blink of time, that split second;

In the darkness of the moment, flashes of lives;

The lives they’d have raised, lives they’d have saved;

The lives they’d have stopped from crumbling;

In that very moment lives they’d have destroyed;

If only they had everything.

In that moment of weakness, sympathy and vulnerability;

That moment of certain uncertainty;

That moment of mercy, yet selfishness;

Wishing to give, but wanting not to;

My hand fell into my almost empty pocket;

Down to its far bottom, fished out all there was;

All that could be given.

Poem by Noah Philemon

(Inspired by mercy and love for the poor and beggar community in most cities in Tanzania)