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Readers can click to the next month at the conclusion of each poem. You can also go to each month by clicking on the link to the months here:
Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr/May/Jun/Jul/Aug/Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec/Intro
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December, 2026
“Children, Go Where I Send You”
by Jerrice J. Baptiste
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Danny PiG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Children, Go Where I Send You
Nina, count the number of children.
I will send them wide and far.
A little biddy baby’s birth
in Bethlehem, tucked in a mud hut
will later gather a crowd.
Children go, go where I send you.
A miracle child is being born,
follow the North Star, the scent of
frankincense & myrrh, bring a gift of gold.
Children go, go where I send you.
The little biddy baby swaddled in cotton,
in a manger of molded clay & soft straw.
Listen to whispers of three wise ghosts.
Children go, go where I send you.
Watch my holy hands multiply
fishes from a blue ocean and loaves
rise, from ashes from no outdoor oven,
for the poor at the door.
Nina, count the number of children
in jail, two apostles will be freed by faith.
Disciples travel to wash dust from my feet.
Children go, go where I send you.
Nina, count the number of children scared.
I’ll guard them from the furnace of hell.
Children go, go where I send you.
Don’t resist my call, the little biddy baby
is being born in Bethlehem.
Jerrice J Baptiste
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Listen to Jerrice J. Baptiste read her poem
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Listen to the 1959 recording of Nina Simone performing the traditional Black spiritual “Children Go Where I Send You” [Warner Music Group]
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Jerrice J Baptiste is an artist, poet, author of nine books. Her most recent book, Coral in The Diaspora was published by Abode Press (August 2024). She’s been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize by Jerry Jazz Musician 2024 & Abode Press 2025, and as Best of The Net in 2022 by Blue Stem. Her writing has been published or is forthcoming in Mantis, One Art: Poetry Journal, Neologism Poetry Journal, The Write Launch, The Banyan Review, The Yale Review, The Lake, Artemis Journal and hundreds of others. Her poems & collaborative songwriting are featured on the Grammy nominated album-Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti
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Click for:
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Jerrice J. Baptiste’s 2025 Jazz Poetry Calendar
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
“Bluesette,” Salvatore Difalco’s winning story in the 67th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
Subscribe to the (free) Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter
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