Love a Child

Tell them they are good at drawing dinosaurs.
Ask them, would they mind drawing a special dinosaur
For you? To keep?
Love that drawing.
Give them a simple, sincere
Thank you card.
"Dear you,
Thank you for my dinosaur. You are so talented.
I hope you never stop drawing."

So that someday,
When they are homeless,
Cold,
Muttering to imaginary Pete about the government,
And frenziedly re-counting a bundle of meager belongings,
That muttering will stop.
Fingers with layers of cracks and filth,
Will stop shaking to caress a grimy
Thank you card.
Eyes will soften.
Chapped lips mouth the words they have long memorized,
But forgotten how to read.
And your warmth will glow, like a little match girl,
And in that moment they will forget to be afraid
Because once a kind person told them
They were good at drawing dinosaurs.