One mother's paradox

I bought my nine year old daughter roller skates today They cost twenty dollars Two miles away children eat cereal for dinner It's all their family can afford My daughter doesn't understand why I'm upset She's heard me describe the poverty and suffering I've seen She's shared dinner table talks about human misery She's even sent money to help the starving overseas But she doesn't really understand She's never missed school on a snowy day . . . Because she had no boots She's never been evicted . . . Because there was no money to pay the rent She's never gone to bed hungry . . . Because cash to buy groceries had run out And, she's never known a dejected mother . . . Drained of hope and riddled by the guilt Of being unable to provide the basics of life to her children I want so desperately to teach my daughter To be sensitive to inequities To reach out ot help others But I also want her to enjoy the roller skates