Dear Friends: As of Fall 2004 the Greater Phoenix Area Writing Project has been discontinued. This website will be maintained for a time on a limited basis for informational purposes and so that you are able to access the resources provided. All the best to you in your teaching. Writings

Four in the Morning It's four in the morning, and my daughter is crying. Does she cry because we don't know if the most evil man in the world is dead or alive?      Or is because somewhere someone is plotting to wipe us off the face of the Earth In the name of faith, serving theirs, spiting ours? Does she cry because I brought her into a world      Where we don't know what color the day will be? Is it Green, Yellow, Orange, or Red? Does she cry because the leader of the house where her mother worships,      Believes he is above the law, be they canon or constitutional? Who shall sign her certificate to authenticate her Baptism? Does she cry because thousands of acres to the south the woodlands burn      From the infernos destroying that which nature created? Will there be anything left after the fires are out? Does she cry because somewhere in this city      The agency dedicated to protecting children is not doing their job? Who's listening to their cries this time of day? Does she cry because Mommy and Daddy won't get raises      But health insurance and state retirement are getting one? How ironic is it that educators often cannot do math. Does she cry because this is what is on her mind      When she wakes up every morning at four Or are those concerns of mine? It's shortly after four in the morning, and my daughter's stopped crying.      She's in my arms drinking her five ounces of formula as I rock her in the glider. And while the early morning news reiterates my worries, not hers,      My daughter's smile assures me Everything will be all right. --Erik M. Francis updated: December 8, 2005

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