We pray for the children

. . . who sneak a Popsicle before supper,
. . . who erase holes in math workbooks,
. . . who can never find their shoes.
 

We pray for the children

. . . who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
. . . who can't bounce 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.

We pray for the children

. . . who never get dessert,
. . . who have no safe 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 pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
. . . whose monsters are real.
 

We pray for the 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
. . . who never rinse out the tub,
. . . who get visits from the tooth fairy,
. . . who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
. . . who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
. . . whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
. . . whose smiles can make us cry.
 

We pray for the children

. . . 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 never give up on
. . . and for 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.

 Author Unknown