A PRAYER FOR THE CHILDRENS
We pray for the children ...
Who sneak Popsicle's before supper,
Who erase holes in math workbooks,
Who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those ...
Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
Who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
Who never "counted potatoes,"
Who are born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead,
Who never go to the circus,
Who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for the children ...
Who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
Who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray for those ...
Who never get dessert,
Who have no security blanket to drag behind them,
Who watch their parents watch them die,
Who can't find any bread to steal,
Who don't have any rooms to clean up,
Whose picture aren't on anybody's dresser,
Whose monsters are real.
We also pray for those ...
Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
Who will eat anything,
Who have never seen a dentist,
Who aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for the children:
Who want to be carried and for those who must,
Who we have given up on,
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody
Kind enough to offer it.
We pray for the children ...
Who sneak Popsicle's before supper,
Who erase holes in math workbooks,
Who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those ...
Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
Who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
Who never "counted potatoes,"
Who are born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead,
Who never go to the circus,
Who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for the children ...
Who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
Who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray for those ...
Who never get dessert,
Who have no security blanket to drag behind them,
Who watch their parents watch them die,
Who can't find any bread to steal,
Who don't have any rooms to clean up,
Whose picture aren't on anybody's dresser,
Whose monsters are real.
We also pray for those ...
Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
Who will eat anything,
Who have never seen a dentist,
Who aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for the children:
Who want to be carried and for those who must,
Who we have given up on,
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody
Kind enough to offer it.
