ALL THE CHILDREN SING

ALL THE CHILDREN SING: IN PRAISE OF CHARICE, IYAZ, MILEY CYRUS, JUSTIN BIEBER, ET AL.

- Nonilon V. Queano

                        “All the children sing:

Hey, Bungalow Bill, what did you kill, Bungalow Bill?

Hey, Bungalow Bill, what did you kill, Bungalow Bill?”

                        - The Beatles, “Bungalow Bill”

                        -

The children will sing no matter what color

Through the winter haze or in summer anywhere

Though elsewhere skies tear up like black silk women wear in mourning

After the men shall have fallen in battle

But today is a feast of songs served on flaming platters by boys and girls,

A dredging of the soul in high notes, profound or shrill,

Rapping rolling thunders to high heavens, plumbing deep earth

And always certain of winning

The world has not seen such dazzling play of sound and colors

Since the old South, when, like black weeds, Mandingos picked magnolias,

And sparrows and canaries swooped down on cotton fields in dead heat.

It must be quite different now with children at the helm,

In motley tones of Charice, Iyaz, Justin Bieber, Myley Cyrus, Imparato

Filipinos, Americans, Canadians, Koreans, Italians, Europeans, etcetera

Singing mighty tunes of “We are the world,” “In This Song,” “Pyramid,” “The Climb,” etcetera

With David Foster, Oprah, Ellen, and the rest, in tow.

The children will sing no matter where

On “YouTube,” yes,

Where even men in orange outfit show off their dancing

To MJ’s “Thriller”

If singing were a weapon, Charice would now be Queen.

What a wonderful world, we’d say

But grown-ups never learn.

Elsewhere, bombs fall,

“Hurt lockers,” inhabit the desert mountains still,

The human heart dies in anger

Death comes certain as sun and rain

In that country, where music plays in gun blasts

And no poem rings

Elsewhere , in that country where children will but may not sing.