Coloring the World

Someone Who Cares

Someone Who Cares


In the remote jungles of that tropical land,
there lay a man panting, a victim of Anopheles.
His kith and kin shut the bamboo doors tight,
and the thatched hut heated hot like live coal.

The poor sick man moaned ceaselessly in the grip
of the dreaded delirium; trembled with chills, and
burned with high fever, his body, a bundle of pain.
His mind went wandering, seeking his long dead

ancestors, while wife and children looked on helpless.
Among the just arrived campers, was someone who
sought after the cause for their tears, saw the man, felt
his weakened pulse, hanging on to the thin thread of life.

Throwing open the doors of that living hell, the visitor
let in light and wind; like an angel of mercy he served him.
A missionary from across the wide blue sea, the Reverend
dosed him with the right antidote after cleansing him

with the sparkling spring of fresh water of the thick bush.
The patient came awake a day later, blessed to live again!
The white visitor stayed on; the native tribesmen heaved
a sigh of relief saying, “There’s Someone Who Cares.”


Awarded Second Place in the Coloring the World contest.