A CHILD'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

I love a child’s birthday party...the chaos, the gifts...the surprise

But most of all I like seeing our world through a child’s eyes.

At a child’s birthday party their life is full of adventure and filled with thrills

They don’t know in the near future they’ll have responsibilities and bills.

At a child’s birthday party they willingly wear the same hats

They don’t know nor do they care who’s a Republican or who’s a Democrat.

At a child’s birthday party they play together without shame

They don’t see, and haven’t been taught, how not everyone’s the same.

At a child’s birthday party their thinking cake and gifts and snacks

They don’t know of the troubles in Syria or Korea or Iraq.

At a child’s birthday party they celebrate the child and the season

They don’t know there are people out there who will harm them for no reason.

At a child’s birthday party they eat everything that’s on their tray

They don’t perceive there are people in the world who won’t eat at all today

If you think about it we only have a few child’s birthday parties to attend

For when they are no longer children this type of party comes to an end.

They outgrow the child’s birthday party and the angelic way they play

As the world, our world, encroaches and peels their innocence away.

Oh we wish it wouldn’t, we wish their lives could always be this innocent and hearty

As we wish their world would always be just like a child’s birthday party.

For a moment we’re transported back...to when everything was innocent and good

We realize those feelings are fleeting, and we would have kept them if we could.

But of course we can’t...to most of us this comes as no surprise

That’s why I love a child’s birthday party...seeing the world through a child’s eyes

And I wonder, as I think of my life and how my innocence has passed

If this is the part...and these are the children whose innocence will last...

Yes I love a child’s birthday party, it’s so fun and boisterous

For as I watch a new generation play together I think there’s hope for the rest of us.