Dear Elaine:
I applaud your efforts on behalf of the International Rescue Committee in order to benefit refugee children, and I am pleased to provide a poem of my choosing. Here, then, is the poem I have chosen.
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.
— Emily Dickinson
I love this poem because of its simplicity and for what it reveals about the author’s value system. Emily Dickinson valued service to others as a central purpose in living. In a world that is frequently ruled by selfishness, Emily Dickinson shines like a heavenly star.
Sincerely,