Come Bring the Children Poem

Come, Bring the Children
Stand them on their toes and let them twirl into tomorrow.
Say to them,
"This is how POSSIBILITY feels."

Come, Bring the Children
Sneak them into the land of Oz,
let them live Where the Wild Things Are.
Say to them,
"This is how WONDER is born."

Come, Bring the Children
Jump barefoot in clay until it takes a shape of tiger teeth.
Say to them,
"This is how CREATIVITY happens."

Come, Bring the Children
Pour a bucketful of paint on gray sidewalks and empty dreams.
Say to them,
"This is how HOPE tastes."

Come, Bring the Children
Toss hundreds of letters in the air and see how they land.
Say to them,
"This is how IMAGINATION grows."

Come, Bring the Children
Kneel at the notes of sax, piano, cello, snare drum
soul-stretching a star-lit night.
Say to them,
"This is how BEAUTY saves."

—Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB,
Founder of the Inner-City Neighborhood Art House