Children ought to get to be children:
Not have to hurry to get on with the next thing
To eat a few more sweets, on occasion,
While their little digestions may still handle it.
To play and not wash so that when they do,
They’re all the fresher.
With that, to get dirty:
Not be afraid of earth or creatures,
The weather or their own personalities therein
Not that they oughtn’t learn
– but once established –
Be allowed to roam and play and wander.
To wander ’til a pursuit occurs to them,
Rather than to always have deadlines imposed, scheduled,
Always working towards an ever-elusive goal
– and in such a damnable hurry.
(Plenty of time for that, if they so choose.)
To giggle with remarkable endurance – simply because it seems right to.
To taste, touch, smell, hear, look… and have time to wonder over it.
Relish it.
To act in moments as though moments are new
Instead of commodities to be utilized, controlled, contained, tackled, or subdued
In favor of productivity,
“Busy” some sort of warped status symbol
Rather than a poor-scheduling, life-sucking exposure.
But getting to be a child nowadays
Doesn’t seem so automatic.
Though maybe different in some respects,
The current state of mind numbing hyper-scheduling
Not so different from the outlawed ones from yesteryear.
Still in the name of industry
Aren’t all these pursuits for some
Ungainly prestige
Dressed up as
Preparedness
Enlightenment
Self-Improvement
and Getting Ahead?
An entire generation(s)
May just wake up to know nothing of themselves or their gifts
Other than learning for the sake of the (up)grade
Schooling for the sake of the dollar
Sport for the sake of the medal
Fun for the sake of forgetting
When does living for its sake enter in?
Where’s the discovery
– where’s the life –
In fitting into already
Mass-produced
Tiny little boxes?
wordskeepmesane 
wow girl….there is sooo much truth in this….but I fear the ones who are listening are the ones who already get it….love you
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Thanks for taking the time to read and reply. Love you too.
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Words that we all should follow… even us “so called” adults
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I couldn’t agree more.
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First of all, brava on the lovey dovey comments and second, the filter on this photo is priceless.
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May I just thank you for being such a wildly gracious visitor? To open up my email and find all your likes was like a breath of fresh air and the most excellent – and dare I say timely – of surprises. I didn’t know how parched I was for positive responses ’til I was encouraged by not only your willingness to read on, but your acknowledgement of the reading! Thank you, truly, truly, deeply. Goodness. You seem to have brought out the gushy in me again…
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I love gushy. Your posts were interesting to read. Thank you for making my Sunday. Your new posts will appear in my reader and I’m looking forward to them.
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Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And for good measure, yes.
I feel as if I’ve said that before to your poetry and ideas. If I haven’t, it’s worth being said. (Again and again and again.)
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And for what it’s worth, I don’t mind hearing it again, again, again, and again. (At the risk of sounding needy. But after all, it is the year of “honest” for me!) Thank you ever so much. To hear it from you whose writing blows me away over and over again (at the risk of repeating myself!) is such a marvelous and unexpected blessing and encouragement. Thank you, dear and gracious one!
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