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A poem by Charles Hughes: The Faith of Children

The author of The Evening Sky and Cave Art

  • The Faith of Children
  • Two boys. A hot, unmoving sun. No fish.
  • Stepping unwatched and solemn into the river—
  • Slow, muddy water, quickly to their waists—
  • The boys wade out like pilgrims toward an island,
  • A little island forty yards from shore,
  • Tall grass, tall trees, small birds apparently
  • Its only summer residents, the island
  • That weeks of fishing in the heat have worked
  • And worked deep in the boys’ imaginations,
  • As if it were a seed of restlessness,
  • More spell than island, vision more than spell.
  • Summer is ending. School—sixth grade—will start.
  • The fall will see the Cuban missile crisis
  • Flare up and flash but not explode. Already,
  • Veiled plans take off to mar the verdant forests
  • And crops of Vietnam.
  • In seven short years,
  • Both boys will move away, and one will die,
  • When his plane goes down while spraying Agent Orange.
  • The other boy won’t come to terms — he’ll die
  • An old man still aghast at how the world
  • Waylays its children, steals them from their tasks,
  • Which don’t compute, as no faith ever can.
Charles Hughes

Charles Hughes has published two books of poems, The Evening Sky (2020) and Cave Art (2014), both from Wiseblood Books. He worked for over 30 years as a lawyer and now works at writing poems.

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  • The Faith of Children
  • Two boys. A hot, unmoving sun. No fish.
  • Stepping unwatched and solemn into the river—
  • Slow, muddy water, quickly to their waists—
  • The boys wade out like pilgrims toward an island,
  • A little island forty yards from shore,
  • Tall grass, tall trees, small birds apparently
  • Its only summer residents, the island
  • That weeks of fishing in the heat have worked
  • And worked deep in the boys’ imaginations,
  • As if it were a seed of restlessness,
  • More spell than island, vision more than spell.
  • Summer is ending. School—sixth grade—will start.
  • The fall will see the Cuban missile crisis
  • Flare up and flash but not explode. Already,
  • Veiled plans take off to mar the verdant forests
  • And crops of Vietnam.
  • In seven short years,
  • Both boys will move away, and one will die,
  • When his plane goes down while spraying Agent Orange.
  • The other boy won’t come to terms — he’ll die
  • An old man still aghast at how the world
  • Waylays its children, steals them from their tasks,
  • Which don’t compute, as no faith ever can.
Charles Hughes

Charles Hughes has published two books of poems, The Evening Sky (2020) and Cave Art (2014), both from Wiseblood Books. He worked for over 30 years as a lawyer and now works at writing poems.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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