We pray for children
who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
who like to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their pants,
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 were born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in a X-rated world.

We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and handfuls of dandelions,
who "sleep with the dog" and "bury goldfish,"
who "hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,"
who cover themselves with Band-aids and sing, off-key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink.

And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who can't find any bread to steal,
who don't have any room 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 grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of the car pool,
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 children
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will never hear 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 and have no being.

We pray for children
who want to be carried and for those you must,
for those 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.

- From A Prayer for Children by Ina Hughs, 1995, by Ina Hughs.