From the book of poems The Rattle Bag, edited by poets Heaney and Hughes we find Charles Causley’s poem Timothy Winters. Written in the early 1950s the poem is a protest to the post WWII failure of the Welfare State to care for the poor and less fortunate. It begs us to pay attention and to make a difference especially when the Welfare State seems unable to do so. The poem has been described as “unsettling”. Causley was a school teacher. Please enjoy the many similes and metaphors and notice the lines each have four strong stresses. One explanation for you is the reference to wide as a football (soccer) pool. Football pools were a form of legal betting on the football results each Saturday – the pools of participants were large and winning was rare. The word “helves” can mean the desperate, longing note that came from calves lowing when separated from their mother. I am sure you have known a Timothy Winters.
Timothy Winters
Timothy Winters comes to school
With eyes as wide as a football pool,
Ears like bombs and teeth like splinters:
A blitz of a boy is Timothy Winters.
His belly is white, his neck is dark,
And his hair is an exclamation mark.
His clothes are enough to scare a crow
And through his britches the blue winds blow.
When teacher talks he won’t hear a word
And he shoots down dead the arithmetic-bird,
He licks the patterns off his plate
And he’s not even heard of the Welfare State.
Timothy Winters has bloody feet
And he lives in a house on Suez Street,
He sleeps in a sack on the kitchen floor
And they say there aren’t boys like him any more.
Old man Winters likes his beer
And his missus ran off with a bombardier.
Grandma sits in the grate with a gin
And Timothy’s dosed with an aspirin.
The Welfare Worker lies awake
But the law’s as tricky as a ten-foot snake,
So Timothy Winters drinks his cup
And slowly goes on growing up.
At Morning Prayers the Master helves
For children less fortunate than ourselves,
And the loudest response in the room is when
Timothy Winters roars “Amen!”
So come one angel, come on ten:
Timothy Winters says “Amen
Amen amen amen amen.” Charles Causley 1917-2003
Prayer:
Lord God, the gospels
speak of your love for the children.
Jesus bid them come close, “suffer the little
children” “for as such is the kingdom of heaven” and with
them he made miracles happen.
Day after day we see the horror of war and the suffering
of children. Grant us forgiveness O Lord for our inability
to notice and to care. Forgive our slowness of heart
to make their world safe and hopeful. Their tears become
torrents. Give strength to those who work night and day
amidst the danger and destruction of war to care for the needy.
Grant aid and support to all who seek to mend broken bones
and heal broken hearts.
Lord God we know it takes so little effort to begin wars
but so much courage to end wars. For the sake of the children
grant us the courage we need, and grant it fast. Amen.
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 
The poem is unsettling and it should be. We should be unsettled by a growing global culture that fails to pay attention to the needs of children who suffer from “war” not only on foreign soil, but in our own neighborhoods, schools and homes. And anyone who doesn’t believe that fact would be well advised to ask an educator for verification. Yes, most everyone knows of a Timothy Winters whether they believe they do, or not. And those who know of their Timothy can do something about it.
Here is an example. Recently an elderly neighbor asked for a ride to do an errand. We drove him to a church a few miles away, not his home church. He was only inside for a few minutes. When he returned to the car he explained that several days ago he overheard a conversation between two mothers in which one said she had lost her job and could no longer pay for her daughter to attend pre-school. He said to us, “That bothered me.” Humorously admitting that he was eavesdropping, he had learned the name of the pre-school. The purpose of his errand was to pay the tuition for the child. And now, every month he repeats this anonymous errand of kindness, for the sake of a child.
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