Republic of the Philippines

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Urdaneta City Campus

Assignment # 4
LIT 1: Society and Literature

Name: Course, Year, and Section:_

I. Read the story, “Children of the City,” by Amadis Ma. Guerrero and instead of essay,
Write a “reaction” poem (the style is up to you) about the story.

In this country, lives an unsightly sight

Where the deprived are placed in a difficult plight
Has to struggle with their very might
To live through today, working day and night

And for those who stand up and fight

Just to experience their every right
Wanting to feel what being privileged is like
Are given a sentence of a steel-handed strike

Just to taste small pleasures in life

Some chooses to grab on to the blades of the knife
In sought for convenience of any kind
Leaving the worries, even responsibilities behind

Forced to turn to a new page,

Children are obligated to work at an early age
Unready to perform in a different stage
In this vague world, they need to earn a wage

Waking up to work before the light of day

Having to fill their stomachs, they have to find a way
Needing to go to work, no time for play
An unfair circumstance, so I may say

They don’t have the privilege to sit and observe

Or complain to anyone that they are getting disserved
With no one to give them what they really deserve
No choice but to wait for someone to pay them to serve
 Children in this situation are in herds
Suffering plight in this cruel world
Learning that reality can be this absurd
While waiting for life to take a major turn