{…hope with wings}

Did you catch this year’s Newbery winner on NPR? I am grateful that, when asked, he had something good to say to the world – to his child – to other kids about recent events in the news cycle. People who can are modeling behavior on How To Deal for the rest of us, and I appreciate it. Mr. Alexander reflected,

“…Does it mean I’m oblivious to what’s going on in the world? No. I choose to write for children. I like to make this remark, the snide remark that I’ve given up on the adults. And it’s a half-truth. But the real truth is I really want to focus on the children. I believe strongly that the mind of an adult begins in the imagination of a child.”

I admit to having given up on adults long ago. Here’s hoping for better from the imagination of children, right? And yet, I refuse to leave all the weight and the pressure on the next generation. We can’t. Meanwhile, as we figure out how to balance the world as adults, I hope you’re being kind to yourself, and taking a break from the big thoughts, to have little ones about pleasant breezes, the sound of birds, and all the things which make summer still a beautiful thing.

WHEN

When the world is not so beautiful
the flowers waste water

the women can no longer find their song,
the children refuse to play

there are no men to teach to love
the ground inside collapses

the coldest winter screams
the summer burns red
the sea is full of blues
and the sky opens up,

at least I’ll have poetry
– a gathering of words,
a get-together of emotions,
a font of ideas,
hope with wings.

– Kwame Alexander

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