📚 Books vs. Bricks 🧱

(A Poem for World Day Against Child Labour)

Tiny hands should clutch their dreams, not stones,
Not toil in silence with aching bones.
Small shoulders meant for schoolbags and cheer—
Not bearing burdens year after year.

In shadowed mills where youth decays,
Their laughter lost in dim-lit haze.
Yet every eye still holds a spark—
A quiet flame against the dark.

Let books, not bricks, fill every day,
With joyful learning, come what may.
Let playgrounds ring with joy, not cries,
And hopes arise beneath bright skies.

Each child a gem, so pure and bright,
Deserving love, and care, and right.
No more their tears be lost to night—
Let justice be their guiding light.

Raise your voice, extend your hand,
For children’s rights across the land.
Their future lies in what we do—
A fairer world begins with you.

Let them run, let them grow,
Let their minds and spirits flow.
For in their hearts, the seeds are sown—
Of peace, of progress yet unknown.

Let’s turn the stones to learning blocks,
And set their dreams in ticking clocks.
Let’s build with care, and purpose true—
A school where once a workshop grew.

Say no to labour, yes to school—
That’s how we shape a brighter rule.
Let children dream, let children see—
Their place in shaping destiny.

On this World Day, rise up and say—
Every child deserves to learn, to play.