an incident of circle-drawing

in my junior high english class, we were required to memorize several poems. only a couple stuck with me and they're both appropriate for this day when we're specially focused on the hope for a world of peace & love. as hippy-dippy as it may sound, spending more time loving and less time hating really will make the world a better place. where to begin? with the kids. kids aren't born haters - adults teach them. hate is a sad legacy to leave your children.

this first poem is by countee cullen. i've edited it out of respect but i am sure you can figger it out. it just breaks my heart, poor sweet little boy on his trip to baltimore.

once riding in old baltimore,
heart filled, head filled with glee,
i saw a baltimorean
keep looking straight at me.

now i was eight and very small,
and he was no whit bigger,
and so i smiled, but he poked out
his tongue and called me, "n-----."

i saw the whole of baltimore
from may until december.
of all the things that happened there,
that's all that i remember.

[countee cullen was a bit of a mystery man who lived to be only 43 years old.]

and this one by edwin markham explains in a few short words how to heal just such a situation. of course, you really can't expect an eight year old to do this. the poem has a simple sing-song nature, but it's really a note to grown ups.

he drew a circle to shut me out -
heretic, rebel, a thing to flout,
but love and i had the wit to win -
we drew a circle that took him in.

[edwin markham looks like he'd whip a heretic, not love one.]