Pamela H. Cosby 

Marion, AL, USA 

I live in Marion, Alabama. My husband Richard and I have two sons, Ricky and Michael. I have a B.S. degree in Industrial Education from Tuskegee University. I'm employed with Alabama Power company. I recently completed a course in Writing for Magazines with the Institute of Children's Literature. I'm working on several short stories--all fiction. I've been writing poems since I was ten years old. One of my favorite works, "Who'll Cry for Rwanda" was published in the spring of 1997 in The National Library of Poetry's Etches in Time.

Who'll Cry For Rwanda

It's a crime, with some time, to cut certain trees,
But who'll cry for Rwanda and save the babies?

Animals can find sanctuary in a National Park,
But who'll cry for Rwanda and save the people when it gets dark?

You can't use that pond because you may destroy the frogs,
But who'll cry for Rwanda and save them from the hungry dogs?

When I saw all the death, it really touched my heart,
I cried for Rwanda, but that's hardly a start.

Can't Understand

Why is that young girl depending upon welfare?
Doesn't she know that it'll get her nowhere?

Why is that baby just lying there screaming?
Her mother's high and she thinks she's dreaming.

Why are those children selling that dope?
Don't they know it's bad and it offers no hope?

Why are those guys attacking that old woman in the street?
Is that the fate that they'd want their mother to meet?

So many things are happening, and I can't understand why?
There's just so much going on beneath the sky.

Why is that young boy on his way to jail?
For all he'll face, it might as well be hell.

Why are little children being raped?
They have nowhere to run--can't escape.

Why are they strung out on drugs?
Their lives should've been filled with mother's hugs.

Why did that child's life, with a gunshot have to end?
Just another chapter, gone with the wind.

So many things are happening, and I can't understand why?
There's just so much going on beneath the sky.