We pray for Children
Who sneak popsicles before supper
Who erase holes in math notebooks
Who can never find their shoes
And we pray for those
Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire fences
Who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers
Who never "counted potatoes"
Who were born in places we wouldn't be caught dead in
Who never saw a circus
Who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children
Who bring 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 bread to steal.
Who don't have any rooms to clean.
Whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser.
Whose monsters are real.
We pray for children
Who spend all their allowance before Tuesday.
Who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food.
Who like ghost stories.
Who shove their dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub.
Who get visits from the tooth fairy.
Who don't like to get kissed in front of the car pool.
Who squirm in church and scream into the phone.
Whose tears are sometimes laughed at and whose smiles can make us cry.
And we 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 children
Who want to be carried and those who must be.
For those we never give up on.
And for those who never get a second chance.
For those we smother.
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
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