Civic Centre vigil serves as reminder

While listening to the various political and religious leaders speak at the vigil, in front of the Civic Center in Sydney, on Tuesday evening, I was reminded of a poem I once used when elementary students visited the UNIA [Universal Negro Improvement Association], in Glace Bay.

The title of the poem was “Where Monsters Can Grow,” author unknown.

It is one thing to elect someone as the President of the United States, who campaigned on hateful intolerance and disrespect. But, now we have Canadians running for the leadership of a national party espousing the same garbage, pretentiously wrapping it in the Canadian flag. This being African Heritage Month, I thought it would be an apropos time to share that poem. It is written at a 4th grade readability level, the same readability level as Donald Trump’s political speeches; for those who read, think and speak as he does. Where Monsters Can Grow Beware of the monsters Who dwell in the mind, Who grow in the shelter Of shadows they find. Beware of the demons Who hide from the light, Who only survive When our spirits lose sight. Those creatures can thrive Where our knowledge is low; They fill in the spaces Of what we don’t know. Beware of the monsters That cause us to hate, To strike out in anger When we can’t relate. For ignorance darkens The mind and the heart, And helps all our monsters tear us apart. But learning and thinking Will strengthen us so, We won’t be the places Where monsters can grow. Al Moore Glace Bay