Charity

Name__________________________________________Date______________________
Reading Comprehension
Volume 5, Number 29, May 8, 2000
www.rhlschool.com

I can hear them
And they’re no longer there,
Crying for a hand
That I couldn’t spare.

I can see them,
Though I will not look,
Reaching for the time
That I never took.

I can feel them
Pulling at my sleeve,
Asking me to stay,
Knowing that I’d leave.

And there’s no way
That I could help them all.
But can I even say,
When all is said and done,
That when I had a way
I stopped to help just one?

RHL

For Discussion:

1. Who or what is the “them” referred to in the poem?

2. What has the narrator done or not done?

3. How does the narrator feel?

4. What is the narrator suggesting about charity?