Would you cover me in a coat of armor

So my blood didn’t weep

If I was your child

Would you shield me from the dark

The boogeyman that wiggled my doorknob whilst I sleep

If I was your child would you smother me with sweet-scented well-meaning

kisses

If I was your child would you teach me all the adventurous things I needed to be

Brave, bold, fierce, strong, fearless, and kind

If I was your child would you grant me an open-hearted curiosity and gypsy spirit

If I was your child would you fill my belly when it gurgled and hiccupped from

hunger

Life’s pains

Every day ups and downs

If I was your child would you discover the planet with me and all her beauty with

excitement

If I was your brave child that got broken with bruises

Would you patch up my busted knees and broken hearts

Would you shower me with love even when undeserving

Would you share your coat of kindness and mesmerizing colors

If I was your child, but not yours to hold onto

Not for too long, too tight, or even a million kisses

If I was your child would you prepare me for the cold, greed filled world

where other children were not born into luck

Or love or grace or unselfishness

Born to endure beatings, assault and fear and hunger and pain

With no escape

If I was not your child, but someone else’s mistake would you even bother to open your eyes and lookup

Be braver than your peacock feathered rooted in pride shielding a blind eye

From the lost children forgotten by mother earth and father time

Unlucky, undesired, unwelcome

Powerless without cloak and dagger

Lost children born without a family tree rooted deep

Where words like kindness, grace, beauty, and bounty were spoken freely

If I was your child

Brave, bold, and confident

Surviving and thriving free from lock and key responsibility

Smiling in prosperity

Would your heart be filled with pride and purpose

If I was not your child would you send some hope my way

Hope does not have to dwell inside your house exclusively

Hope should be shared and scattered like Hershey kisses

It must live in your heart and smile and willingness to cross the street

Born on the open roads and mountains and highways traveled making you wise

Opening your eyes to plight and diversity and pain

Because you too were somebody’s child once

Who deserved to be sheltered and showered with meteor worthy hugs

If I was your child would you give me the moon and stars

Hell I’m only a child, I don’t know any different

I’d settle for the black hole we all live in, illuminated by cracks of sun

not asking too much, but perhaps one teeny tiny star to guide me

Would you, could you, love me anyway?

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