A Prayer for the Children

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A Prayer for the Children
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We Pray For the Children
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who sneak popsicles before supper,
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who erase holes in math workbooks,
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who can never find their shoes.
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And We Pray for Those
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who stare at photographers from behind barbed
wire,
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who can't bound down the street in a new pair
of sneakers,
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who never "counted potatoes,"
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who are born in places where we wouldn't be
caught dead,
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who never go to the circus,
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who live in an X-rated world.
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We Pray For the Children
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who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of
dandelions,
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who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch
money.
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And We Pray for Those
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who never get dessert,
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who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
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who watch their parents watch them die,
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who can't find bread to steal,
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who don't have rooms to clean up,
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whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
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Whose monsters are real.
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We Pray For the Children
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who spend their allowance before Tuesday,
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who throw tantrums in the grocery store and
pick at their food
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who like ghost stories,
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who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
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who never rinse out the tub,
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who get visits from the tooth fairy,
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who don't like to be kissed in front of the
carpool,
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who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
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whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
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whose smiles can make us cry.
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And We Pray for Those
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Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
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Who will eat anything
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Who have never seen dentist,
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Who aren't spoiled by anybody
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Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to
sleep,
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We Pray For the Children
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Who want to be carried and for those who must,
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Who we never give up on and for those who
don't get a second chance.
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We pray for those we smother and for those who
will grab the hand ofanybody kind enough to
offer it.