Narges Rothermel

Don’t Give Up On Me

Narges Rothermel

 

I heard you say, I am not worthy of your time

I heard you say, “Wasting the space is a crime”

I heard you say, you are giving up on me

Don’t, I am on a crossroad of survival, you see

My father has not given up trying

My mother still hoping, she still is trying

The land I am born in struggling to open her heart

Acceptance by my countrymen is still, very hard

Not quite welcome at all desirable sites

Being different, repels so many God given rights

I’ve heard God created man in his image

I’ve heard a million forms of this message

Mom told me Jesus’ skin had a shade of brown

He became Jesus for every country and each town,

He became Jesus for every race, yellow red or brown

even for the ones with fair-skin and golden crown

Mom told me I’m also a child of God

when I’m among his other children, I hear the silent shout

Being poor and different makes me stand alone, and stand Out

Its odd that many still don’t see me as a child of The Only God

Like God’s other children I need to fit in. I need to survive

I too, yearn to exist. I too, need to dream I too, need to thrive

My dear teacher, I know you find it hard to cope

But you and this class are the only roads to my Hope

Invest in my future now, so you and your child

don’t have to face me when anger makes me wild

so, you don’t have to house me in windowless cells,

so you don’t have to buy iron-doors, alarms, and the bells

Perhaps spending some of your time, is the key

So, you don’t have to cage my child or me

in the other side of barbed-wire-fences

Please, try to see me with a pair of new lenses

My teacher, don’t condemn me and how I behave

Help me to be Brave in the Land of the Brave

Help me to feel Free in the Land of the Free

My dear teacher, Please, don’t Give Up On Me! 

 

The Summer Gazebo Readings are held each Monday evening at 7pm in June, July & August. Each evening 4-5 authors and poets share their work from our Gazebo on Schoolhouse Green in Oceanside, NY. SGR is produced by the Kiwanis Club of Oceanside. Funds raised through sponsorships help send underprivileged kids to Kamp Kiwanis each summer. This summer marks our 7th season