Dad, there was a child in a wheelchair

Among so many papers accumulated over the years, which I am trying to clear from my desk, I find one with a poem that is a hymn to life.

The Wheelchair
Dad, there was a child in a wheelchair,
he didn’t move his arms
and with his face
he kept looking up at his sister.

Dad, why is he like that?
Well! I can’t tell you!
Maybe his parents made a mistake
when they bought him.

Why, when newborns are bought,
can you choose between the healthy and the sick?
Well! Once you couldn’t, no,
but now, with all the science we have,
a whole lot of things can be done!

Dad, if that little brother were mine,
I’d want to push his little wheelchair myself.
What, are you crazy? You don’t know what you’re saying:
people like that are unhappy all their lives

and if science were to advise them so,
better to have them die before they are born.
Dad, science, which knows everything,
instead of letting them die,
why doesn’t it make them well?

And then that child’s face was serene,
with his sister he was all smiles!
The lady next door who has everything
has such a sad and ugly face!

My son!…science is a great calculator:
it has a big head, but it lacks a heart!

Any woman who, for any reason, is having difficulty carrying her pregnancy forward can call: SOS – VITA (24 hours a day) at the toll-free number 800-813-000, where she will find someone to listen and help.