Children as Persons

Children are
“… to be seen and not heard”
Is a startling pronouncement
And deeply absurd

Can you even imagine
Only hearing adults?
And much more alarming
What would be the results?

The sobering cloud of what is allowed
Keeps children quiet and scared
And many critical things
Would never get shared.

Adults focus on rules
And what’s to be done
And oh, hardly ever
would have very much fun

They’d plant food more than flowers
build flat squares and not towers
and when it’s time to imagine
their work overpowers

They’d never pour milk
Over top of the edge
Or take piles of ice cream
And cookies to bed.

They never would sing
At the top of their lungs
or head to the top
of a ladder with rungs.

Their books would be ordered
Up straight on a shelf
But hardly any have pictures
of art and its wealth

when would they laugh
and relax in the sun
when sand gets them dirty
and the work is not done?

Would they even know clouds
And the shapes that they make
And that they keep moving
And changing their shape?

They might mistake flowers
For weeds to pull out
And when trees get ‘too big’
They would just cut them out.

They wouldn’t have time
To play games and run
Because the world that they see
Has more work to be done

It seems such a world
Would be sadness indeed
With nothing to do
Except try to succeed

A world without children?
So much more adults need
They cannot imagine
How children plant seeds …

…of wonder and questions
And laughter and beauty
That have little to do
With work or with duty

Children nurture our spirits
And bring human laughter
And all of this brings us
Fun and joy ever after

The world so needs children
to show us the way
to make such a difference
in our lives every day

every day we must hear them
and see who they are
they impact our lives
more than anything – by far

they teach us to care
and to trust other folks
and be kind and to share
-that’s what caring evokes.

Children know about helping
And about what is not fair
They know why it’s important
That the whole world needs to share

And so we must look
To our wisest and most dear
They bring us together
With love, laughter and cheer

they help us to see
What’s important in life
If we listen and learn
They will end all our strife.

Adults will improve
And their values will move
Meaning and purpose
Will be their main groove

And as adults grow this way
They teach children the same
And society is built
As a ‘best practice’ game.

In a very old book
This idea was said:
“A little child shall lead them”
This way we must tread.