By Denize Lauture, Coeur de poeme
If We Children Plant the Garden
Green are the leaves
Red are the flowers
Green and red is our little garden
White is the pollen
Rosy are the fruits
White and rosy is our little garden
If we children plant the garden
Blue are the stems
Gray are the branches
Blue and gray is our little garden
Yellow is the sap
Brown are the roots
Yellow and brown is our little garden
If we children plant the garden
Crystal-clear are the raindrops
Golden are the sunrays
Crystal-clear and golden is our little garden
A meadow of rainbows
Is our little garden
If we children plant our garden
And kind is the sky
Colorful are the rainbows
Colorful and kind is our little garden
And friendly are the butterflies
Pleasant are the songbirds
Friendly and pleasant is our little garden
And fresh are the streams
Gentle are the furrows
Fresh and gentle is our little garden
And cool is the shade
Smooth is the moss
Cool and smooth is our little garden
And rich are our harvests
And sweet are our fruits
And rich and sweet is our little garden
A meadow of rainbows
Is our little garden
If we children plant the garden!
Fall to Your Knees and Pray : An Ecological Prayer for the World
“Oh, if humankind could also say a little prayer and shed a few tears!”
Translated by Julia Doherty
Little hole in the sand into which the child dives
And turns a little pinky
Little islet of sand that the child gathers
and let fall, grain by grain
Fall to your knees and pray, the world is in need of prayers
A few tears from your eyes will really help
The little stream of peace
Little twig which trembles as a lone leg passes by
Little blade of grass, which grows wild
as the lightest breeze rises
Fall to your knees and pray,
the world is in need of tenderness
A few tears from your eyes
will really help the little stream of peace
Little sprout that the smallest hand can destroy
Little shrub with roots salient and weak
Fall to your knees and pray,
the world is in need of love
Some tears from your eyes
will really help
the little stream of peace
Reed defenseless
against drought
Tree defenseless
against the ax of man
Defenseless against lightning
Fall to your knees and pray
The world is in need of prayers
The world is in need of tenderness
The world is in need of love.
A few tears from your eyes,
will really help
the little stream of peace
Little stone that
a six-year-old’s hand
can pulverize
Boulder at the mercy of dynamite
Fall to your knees and pray, the world is in need of love
A few tears from your eyes
will really help the little stream of peace
Little petal that
one sunray can disfigure
Little leaf who has
but one single season
Fall to your knees and pray
the world is in need of tenderness
A few tears from your eyes
will really help
the little stream of peace
Little squirrel which has nothing
but a hollow tree trunk
Little rabbit which has nothing
but a narrow burrow
Fall to your knees and pray,
the world is in need of love
The world is in need of tenderness,
the world is in need of prayers
A few tears from your eyes
will really help
the stream of peace
Unlucky little bird
whose nest is destroyed
by the gentlest wind
Unlucky little bird
whose life may end
with one little bullet
Fall to your knees and pray,
the world is in need of prayers
A few tears from your eyes
will really help
the stream of peace
Little spring water fish
struggling in a polluted pond
Little fish of the sea
which will not rise
to say good evening
to the moon and the stars
Or good morning
to the high noon sun
Or to the child counting
the grains of sand on the beach
Fall to your knees and pray,
the world is in need of prayers
The world is in need of tenderness
The world is in need of love...
Denize Lauture is Haitian-American poet and children’s books writer. He has been living in N.Y.C. for 55 years. peasant boy-welder-machinist-poet-sociologist-teacher-children’s books writer-college professor, all applied to him
Academy of the Heart And Mind 