We say it takes a village
to raise a child;
but our community has lost
the village character;
subsumed
in Western cultural tradition:
daring you
discipline yours or another,
dooming Social Service
declaring you a child abuser.
Village trust has melted
into community suspicion
and greetings of peace and love
are seen as affronting
one’s personal space, and subject to:
“You don’t know me like that!”
No more are there “Rites of Passages”—
replaced by personal cells and flat screens;
and “what?” has become
a child’s most acceptable, popular response.
Nuff said! We can’t raise the child
until we re-raise the village!
Being born by the river, I know change
is going to come: Peace and Love.