Broken Homes

When people get old they get ugly and mean,

They often play dirty and never come clean.

Your elders and betters are supposed to be wise,

But all they can tell you are little white lies.

When people get old they're inclined to be dumb;

You wouldn't believe how naive they become.

They think they can fool you with presents and stuff

When one goodnight kiss would be comfort enough.

When people get old they want everything nice,

Want everything perfect whatever the price.

They claim to be clever and know all the tricks

Then take things to pieces they never can fix.

When everything's broken they want something new;

They don't always do what they said they would do,

They want what they can't have and lose what was theirs

And jump into bed without saying their prayers.

This world's full of wonders and miracles too;

The angels love Jesus and Jesus loves you.

To all little children it's plain as can be

When people get old it gets harder to see.

(After reading a few comments I realise that I should have included a little explanation. So this is a rather belated introduction! The feelings behind the words are not based on my experience of the world but on the, often unspoken, words of children I've known and worked with. Besides I'm pretty old myself and would not want to be thought of as mean or dumb - ugly's another question! I'm lucky; I come a family that's held together through everything the world could throw at it, but so many kids are not so fortunate. It's often not only the home that's broken, little people get damaged too. So this one's for them.)

Take care.