A poem that says it all.
Far, far from happy days, these children's faces.
So curious, being directed through their paces.
The pretty girl, so happy, yet so sad.
That little boy...He looks as bright as any lad.
And there at the rear of that small room,
A child, whose piercing eyes made me swoon,
The teacher, and every visitor in the room.
It troubled me, how this could be
So very difficult for me to see...
These children's future foggy life,
And ours so free of serious strife.
So hopeless was their narrow street,
I turned from eyes I could not meet.
But then this child...His arms raised high,
Reached up to me...I know I'd cry.
I took his little hands in mine
And held him closely for a time.
Before he crept away from me,
The tears...My eyes...I could not see.
Beside me the parent of one child,
So unwilling to be
The hurt and tears...
Great sadness still...
Faith-Hope and Charity... Endless Fog and night...
And then I know why I had come.
To see the work, that had been done.
You and I, like the sun and wind,
Can clear that foggy haze for them,
So they glimpse a shining spot,
That to them may be a Camelot.
Editor's note: Richard Gaffney passed away Sunday as the result of an auto accident.