A Prayer

I pray
 your elders
Teach you
To value yourself,
So that you will value them,
Even though their bones are frail,
And their memories,
Are lost in fogs
Over the rivers
Of yesterday.

I pray
Your elders teach
Patience,
Compassion,
And joy,
Along with
Reading,
Writing,
And arithmetic,
So you will
Have patience,
For their struggles,
Compassion for their tears,
And joyful places
For them to rest,
In their final years.

I pray
The politicians,
The superintendents,
And the principals,
Who plan
Your programs,
Take time to listen
To the stories in your hearts,
So that you will take
Time to listen,
To the stories
In their hearts,
When stories
Are all they have left.

I pray
Your elders
Look at you
With awe and wonder and respect,
For all that you can become,
So that you will look at them
With awe and wonder and respect,
For all that they became.

I pray your elders
Have time
To share
With you
The golden sunlight,
The darkening shadows,
And the truths
That are important
For all time,
So that you will see
The glowing candle
Of eternity,
In them,
Even though their bodies,
Crumble
Like the last leaves
In the moment
Before winter's breath.

I pray your elders
Teach courage,
Because when they're old,
They will lean
On your strength,
And the fate
Of our precious planet,
Of civilization itself,
Will lie in your hands.

I pray
Your elders
Remember to nourish,
Your spirits
And souls,
So you will remember
They have
Spirits and souls,
When they are
In your care.

Above all,
I pray your elders,
Teach
Wisdom, grace, and love,
For in the brief moment
It takes,
A leaf to fall,
From a tree,
They,
Will pass the
Glowing torch
Of life
To you,

The children of today,

Their leaders,
Their caretakers,
Their hope,
And their promise,
For tomorrow.

                                           Kalli Dakos -  "I Hope"
                                           Poems for Teachers 
                                           Page 24