Feed the Children
by Eric Bogle
Have you seen the children
who disturb our paradise?,
staring from the TV
with empty dying eyes;
no trace of anger
at the betrayal of the trust
that left them to die like starving dogs
in the famine’s bitter dust.
But if you close your ears,
you won’t hear them cryin’.
If you close your eyes,
you won’t see them dyin’.
And if you close your mind,
your heart won’t condemn.
If the future’s born with every birth,
tell me, how much is a child’s life worth?
We must feed the children of the earth,
or the future dies with them.
And have you seen the madmen
who strut the world’s stage?,
threatening our destruction
as they prance and preen and rage,
rattling nuclear sabres
as humanity holds its breath,
feeding on fear and bigotry
while the children starve to death.
But if you close your ears,
you won’t hear them cryin’.
If you close your eyes,
you won’t see them dyin’.
And if you close your mind,
your heart won’t condemn.
If the future’s born with every birth,
tell me, how much is a child’s life worth?
We must feed the children of the earth,
or the future dies with them.