A Mother’s Day poem
She was waiting gratitude from her son
For everything that she has done,
For all the sufferings she felt,
For sleepless nights, that she spent.
And he grew up, stepped over threshold,
About mother’s care he forgot,
And often she was standing at the fence,
Looking at the postman with a sense.
She often tried to think over the past,
That everything has gone so fast,
She wanted him to be very kind,
That came always to her mind.
So years went, the son was silent,
That he lives good and is all right,
That’s all the mother dreamed about,
But still he didn’t find time to write.
A letter will come late in the fall,
The mom’s address is another at all.
The son will understand the price of mother,
When he himself becomes a father.
Moysey Barash
Translated by Marim Barash
The sky is not falling
In the April 8 edition of the Northeast Times, George Tomezsko wrote that “in this age of decline, high crime and moral laxity, a restoration of traditional morality is the only real solution.”
Everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts. In reality, the number of violent crimes nationally — more than just the rate, the actual number, despite our growing population — is at a 36-year low.
You’ve heard that half of all marriages end in divorce? The divorce rate is declining, and has been declining for three decades. Among teenagers, pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates are at a 38-year low (maybe further back); illicit drug use peaked in 1997, and alcohol use is at a historically low level. The sky is not falling.
Howard J. Wilk
Pine Valley
Overhaul needed at school district
Peter DiGiuseppe writes an excellent analysis of the present Philadelphia school district situation.
Unfortunately he offers only complaints and no solutions. We’ll never change the system without major changes. Here are some of my ideas.
First, abolish the School Reform Commission and replace it with a group of parents and teachers.
Second, terminate half of the school district’s present administrative staff, most of the jobs are redundant and they’re top-heavy with jobs given as rewards for loyalty.
Third, limit government subsidies in single parent homes at one child, any more are not at the public’s expense.
Fourth, reward school attendance and passing grades. That could be money, better housing or some other necessity for the home.
We’ve got to make people want to have their kids educated for their welfare, not just to get them out of the house. I know most of you will laugh at these ideas but I think the longer you think about them, the better they’ll sound.
Joe Orenstein
Bustleton
Clean up Forrest
The Forrest School in the Mayfair area keeps the outside very untidy.
It has bottles, cans, dog dirt, banana peels.
It is a disgrace.
Mary England
Mayfair
Beware of donors
There are three multi-millionaires, who are non-residents of Philadelphia and normally support Republican ideals and causes. They are pouring hundreds of thousands into the campaign of one of the Philadelphia Democratic mayoral candidates.
Because of this, Philadelphia Democrats should be very cautious of who they vote for in May.
I may be paraphrasing Michael Vick when I say, “I don’t have a dog in this fight,” as I am a Republican.
Mayer Krain
Modena Park
