Significant Children Poem by Martin Swords

I met a man who told me once
about …a doctor…..well known…
….master of the hospital….
…who delivered most of the…
…significant children in this town…

the child who grew into his parent’s wealth,
did nothing all his life, had lots of fun.
the girl who had it all, but happiness,
the dead one with the needle in her arm.
the boy who couldn’t explain his feelings,
and shot his classmates as a kind of statement.
maybe not the poor child who failed at school,
but cared enough to become a senator.
or the plain girl from basketball, the tall one,
who started the hostel for the homeless.
no, none of these were significant,
not even the doctor.

what was significant, was the way he used the phrase,
without thinking, and how it came naturally to him.
did he know how much he really said,
the significance of it.


Martin Swords
June 2009