To remember innocence lost
To know what it is like to befriend another with kindness
To play with reckless abandon until their cheeks hurt from laughing.
It takes a child to believe in the goodness of others
To taste life before they learn about survival
To dance until their legs give way to Mother earth
To eat until they know hunger
To drink until they suffer thirst.
It takes a child to trust in all that is safe and good
Until life introduces them to hardship
It takes a child who is brave
And makes the impossible possible
Until they begin to know fear.
The village has forgotten what is
Important and pure.
It has forgotten how to breathe
A life lived with each other.
It has forgotten to take baby steps
And hold hands with friends along the way.
Maybe it’s time for the child to raise the village
And help it remember how to love again.