A Glass of Bubbly

Poor little innocent lives
born with imperfect hearts
struggling to face the world,
odds against them from their starts.

The grief and terror of families
the pain of all around
How can we heal their childhoods,
to make them safe and sound?

Unless you’re a qualified doctor
a nurse or a scientist
if you believe that it will help them,
then do pray, I insist!

The rest of us can only watch
in impotent helplessness
unless you know how to crochet, that is
then please listen to this address:

There’s a charity organisation
in Sweden, far away
who try to bring some joy to them
to help them grow up one day!

All you need to do to help,
as we should all do more on this earth,
is support them for the sake of a child.
How much is a child’s heart worth?

There is a charity organisation, recently founded, who encourage those able and willing to crochet, to make a “Heart Cat (Hjärtekatt) for children who are born with malfunctioning hearts and need to undergo surgery during their formative years. The initiative is a collaboration with several Swedish children’s hospitals, e.g. Drottning Silvias Barnsjukhus in Gothenburg, and so far almost 500 lovingly handmade cats have made their way to support and entertain children at various hospitals. I believe this is a worthwhile cause, if ever there was one, and just wanted to – in my own small way – raise awareness. The blog site for the cause (in Swedish only) is here.

I have finally decided to enter this poem at the Thursday Poets Rally Week #53.

Swedish Translation (added in September 2011):

Hjärtekatten

Stackars små hjälplösa, oskyldiga liv
vars hjärtan ej vuxit sig hela i tid
som kämpar för att en dag vuxna få bli
när oddsen och turen inte alls stått dem bi.

Sorgen och smärtan hos de närmaste,
rädslan hos alla runt om.
Hur kan vi hjälpa de drabbade?
Ge dem livet, som lovades dem?

Om du inte är någon hjärtkirurg,
medicin- eller vetenskapsman,
om du trots allt elände i världen har tron
vi ber dig, be allt vad du kan!

Vi andra kan bara stå här bredvid,
i fruktansvärd hjälplöshet.
Om vi inte kan virka och har lite tid,
för då finns det några som vet!

Välgörenhetsorganisationen med klös,
med dem blir det inte så svårt!
De gör sjukhusvistelsen mindre färglös
med glädje blir livet mindre hårt!

Allt du behöver göra för att stötta dem,
och det behövs ju mer i vår värld,
är att läsa, virka och sprida ett budskap:
Hur mycket är ett barns hjärta värt?