A Prayer for Children

We pray for children
Who sneak popsicles 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 we wouldn't be caught dead
who never go to the circus
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for 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 safety blanket to drag behind them
who watch their parents watch them die
who can't find any bread to steal
who don't have rooms to clean up
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 dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub
who get visits from the tooth fairy
who don't liked to be kissed in front of the carpool
who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone
whose tears we sometimes laugh 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 are not 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 for those who must.
for those we never give up on and those who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother...and for those who will grab the hand
of anybody kind enough to offer it.