If I Was Your Child    

Would you cover me in a coat of armor
So my blood didn’t weep
If I was your child
Would you shield me from the dark
The boogeyman that wiggled my doorknob whilst I sleep
If I was your child would you smother me with sweet scented well-meaning
kisses
If I was your child would you teach me all the adventurous things I needed to be
Brave, bold, fierce, strong, fearless and kind
If I was your child would you grant me an open-hearted curiosity and gypsy spirit
If I was your child would you fill my belly when it gurgled and hiccupped from
hunger
Life’s pains
Everyday ups and downs

If I was your child would you discover the planet with me and all her beauty with
excitement
If I was your brave child that got broken with bruises
Would you patch up my busted knees and broken hearts
Would you shower me with love even when undeserving
Would you share your coat of kindness and mesmerizing colors
If I was your child, but not yours to hold onto
Not for too long, too tight or even a million kisses

If I was your child would you prepare me for the cold, greed filled world
where other children were not born into luck
Or love or grace or unselfishness
Born to endure beatings, assault and fear and hunger and pain
With no escape

If I was not your child, but someone else’s mistake would you even bother
to open your eyes and look up
Be braver than your peacock feathered rooted in pride shielding a blind eye
From the lost children forgotten by mother earth and father time
Unlucky, undesired, unwelcome
Powerless without cloak and dagger
Lost children born without a family tree rooted in structure
Where words like kindness, grace, beauty and bounty were spoken freely
If I was your child
Brave, bold and confident
Surviving and thriving free from lock and key responsibility
Smiling in prosperity
Would your heart be filled with pride and purpose
If I was not your child would you send some hope my way

Hope does not have to dwell inside your house exclusively
Hope should be shared and scattered like Hershey kisses
It must live in your heart and smile and willingness to cross the street
Born on the open roads and mountains and highways traveled making you wise
Opening your eyes to plight and diversity and pain

Because you too, were somebody’s child once
Who deserved to be sheltered and showered with meteor worthy hugs
If I was your child would you give me the moon and stars
Hell I’m only a child, I don’t know any different
I’d settle for the black hole we all live in, illuminated by cracks of sun
not asking too much, but perhaps one teeny tiny star to guide me
My own true north

Photo Credit: pixel-held Flickr via Compfight cc