“That Village”
By Johnny Ray Moore
Let’s all become that VILLAGE,
Just like we used to be?
That VILLAGE made of KINGS and QUEENS,
A place of DIGNITY.
Back then, WE RAISED our children,
We taught them RIGHT from WRONG,
When problems came and shook their FAITH,
We urged them to HOLD ON.
We even PRAISED our ELDERS,
They PAVED THE WAY for us,
And, if they needed ANYTHING,
We GAVE without a fuss.
That village was a place of STRENGTH,
Where MEN made PEACE with MEN,
And WOMEN stood beside their mates,
Right to the very end.
The CHURCH, also, had POWER,
It gave much HOPE to many,
It taught SALVATION was for all,
And DID NOT COST A PENNY!
And furthermore, that VILLAGE was,
Designed to keep us grounded,
Instilling precious HARMONY,
The BEST THING ever founded.
So, as we sometimes toil with doubt,
STAND TALL and PERSEVERE,
Because, THAT VILLAGE WAY OF LIFE,
IS STILL SO VERY DEAR.
Johnny Ray Moore is a poet, children’s book author, greeting card writer and songwriter. His acclaimed board book, The Story of Martin Luther King Jr., has sold more than 100,000 copies. His children’s poetry collection, Silence, Please (Clear Fork Publishing), debuts in April.
Read about Voices of Change on The Brown Bookshelf.
The Brown Bookshelf opens up this space to you — to young readers, to parents and caregivers, to educators, and all who work directly with children and teens. See previous entries here.
What are you thinking? How are you feeling about what is happening in our towns and cities, our world? Where do we go from here? What would you like to see happen? What do you want to do? How can we offer our support?
Please feel free to share your words and/or images with us, by sending them to teambrownbookshelf@gmail.com. And we will post them here. Posts with profanity, explicit imagery, etc will not be accepted or published. Unless a contributor requests otherwise, we will share first initials, age and/or position only.
Beautifully stated. That Village is what we must continue to build upon today, especially during these turbulent times.
This reminds me of the saying it takes a village to raise a child. You can achieve more with the help of others along the way. This was well written and a true meaning of what it is to work together. This thoroughly explained how things have changed over time and how the idea of the village has unfortunately faded away, but we must get back to as a society.
This poem reminders me of the saying it takes a village to raise a child. Your right Brenda, we must continue to build our village in today’s society.