the drop in the bucket

parahito azul
means the little blue bird
and its true
each of these kids lacks
any nest but this
and not all of them received
their deserved wingspan

blogging is harder
when you work for a living
when the clinic is 8 hours a day
plus meetings
and you shoot it all
and how to describe all the sadness and hope
even with the vaguery
of my poetic licence

all we can do is try

cerebral palsy
is a motor control issue
mohhamed ali
is still muhhamed ali in there
he just can´t punch you
there are secret energy points within
to stimulate the brain
to help regain control of arms and legs
epilepsy has points too
at the back of the head
near the nape of the neck
it is hard to treat epilepsy
when there is autism too
they don´t understand
and rip the medicine from their heads

helen is our door keeper
she opens it and closes it
she does wonderful needlework
on pillowcases and sheets
she makes some personal money at this
and is throwing a birthday party next friday
we´re all invited
her birthday is in march
the centre throws one birthday party each month
for all the kids celebrating within that thirty days
this year helen gets two

hector is 13, but is the size of a one year old
his bones are so fragile
that he forgets how much
he breaks his legs playing
his arms
shaking someone´s hand
his mind is sharp
his tongue fast and funny
he goes back to the dorms shouting
ít´s okay! ´
it is good medicine!
it doesn´t hurt so much!
he calms the kids with his confidence
i interview him at 3
he doesn´t know it
but he is the new star of my movie

antonio loves superheroes
i draw wolverine for him
i draw the hulk
his art teacher says
draw more slowly
so he can learn how you do it
i draw more slowly
he watches so closely
during his treatment
he talks of superman
batman and the flach
flach? they ask
is he a wrestler?
i try not to talk from behind the camera
but this is too much
the flash i say
he means the flash
my bad spanish
un hombre muy rapido?
si, he says, smiling si
the FLACH!
a few seconds later
he falls asleep during his treatment
in mid sentence
it is a good sign
that the medicine is working

carla morena
has a boyfriend
they are getting married today
but the minister didn´t show up
then she tires of that
and is going on a trip
she is losing weight too fast
they don´t know why
in the last six months three girls have died this way
losing weight quickly
and slipping away
not carla
not her

please

she is in love

andrea says
she can fix this and that
but she can´t cure cp
she can´t make parents appear
i tell her
what jania told me

to do this work
you must beleive in the drop in the bucket
that the drop in the bucket is worth dropping
thought the bucket is not filled by it

we must beleive in the drop in the bucket

and then demand of our powerful ones
to make it rain