Poetry: Lily Quintal, 12s

An Island, But Not Alone

Lily Quintal – Sixth Grade – Navajo San Diego – Jeff 12s

I taste the lukewarm water from a bottle that’s just arrived on a cargo plane.

I see tears well up in a mother’s eyes as she cradles her starving infant.

I smell the fire’s smoke, bitter from the stench of burning bodies.

I hear piercing screams as the nurse’s needle punctures the brown skin of a child’s slender arm.

I touch a little girl’s cheek, as her eyes crinkle with a smile when I give her a teddy bear.

I use all my senses, but all this suffering still doesn’t make sense. So much left to do to help the people in Haiti.