The Roosevelt Teddy Bear Welfare
by Sabrina Dawkins
In free public school,
they passed out Roosevelt teddy bears
to a class full of black girls.
But there weren’t enough to go around,
so a small fraction got a bear to comfort her.
They were red, blue, purple, green.
“Teddy will comfort and take care of you.
He is your father and will provide all things.”
So they sat and waited for their teddy bear,
for their food, for their health care,
for their education.
But I escaped to build a garden
with God’s spiritual guidance.