HALIMA

I think her name is Halima

She was just five

She came to me with pleading eyes

She begged that we rescue her from her predicament

From oppression in the hands of kith and kin

We couldn’t believe her, no, we couldn’t.

We thought she was deluded

How cruel our incredulity must have been

How so mean and cruel our indifference

I could hear as they called her

She was about to return to a life of suppression

A hollow existence, a life of suffering and pain

A mere existence, shadows that’s all

I saw her quiet resignation at our indifference

How brave her manners

How courageous her demeanor

That someone as she could welcome each day

That she could continue to live in a world that treats her so

A world filled with violence and hatred

A world of cruel oppression and chauvinism

Halima, what a noble spirit!

I ran after her

My heart melted for her

I just couldn’t let her go

I simply couldn’t!

What gracious and generous spirit

Tender and brilliant

Her eyes, brilliant, yet without sorrow

What spirit, she?

Halima!

I ran after her

What could I do?

I was helpless or was i?

Could I do nothing for her?

Will she continue to suffer like this without help?

At the hands of insatiable wolves that continue to ravish her

My heart is broken for her but I couldn’t stop her

So I told her about a champion

A hero, her hero, everyone’s hero

The great champion of the down trodden and oppressed

The man who met cruel death bravely so that people like her could be free

I couldn’t go back with her but the man Jesus would

I wouldn’t be there all the time but he would be with her always

I told her of a savior, a mighty savior

Who had come to rescue her

I told her of a lover

Who understood all she had ever been through

And all she would ever go through

I told her of my savior, everyone’s savior

THE MAN CHRIST JESUS

I commended her to his keeping

To His shepherding care

I can’t promise her that she won’t suffer again

But I know He would be with her always

Now she has a friend, a companion and a hero

Whereas all the men she had known were tyrants

This one is different

Whereas she stoically bore her humiliation

And secretly dreamed of a deliverer

Now her dreams have come true

She has a true, real hero!

This poem is a tribute to the girl child and all who suffer and are oppressed all over the world especially women and children, written today, the 3^rd of June set aside by the United Nations as the International Day for innocent children and all victims of oppression.