On Monday, Billy didn't have his homework
and when the teacher asked him why?
He said, "Because a monster ripped it up,
after I told him a lie."
"You know monsters don't exist,
and if you
don't turn in your homework no recess you will get."
On Tuesday, Billy had a stomachache and
when the teacher asked him why?
He said, "A monster took away my dinner,
even my cherry pie."
"Billy, I've told you once before, monsters
are not real.
You'll have to wait till lunchtime
before you get a meal."
On Wednesday, Billy had a bandage,
which covered his right eye.
When
the teacher asked him how it happened,
this was his reply:
"A monster was running
after me when I ran into the door:"
"Billy please," the teacher said, "I don't
want to hear any more."
On Thursday, Billy refused to sit down,
and when the teacher asked him why?
Billy said, "A monster whipped my bottom,
because I started to cry
," "Billy, said the teacher,
"this is getting out of hand,
and if you continue
with these stories, In the corner you will stand.
"On Friday, Billy didn't come to school, and
when the teacher found out why,
she said
a little prayer to God in hopes Billy would survive.
For a monster had beaten Billy and threatened
him with a knife.
Now Billy lay in a hospital bed,
fighting for his life.
So listen and please remember,
that monsters are for real.
Listen closely to kids
stories, A wounded heart you may heal !!!!!
A PRAYER FOR THE CHILDREN OF VIOLENCE
We pray for the children
who sneak Popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those
who stare at
photographers from behind barbed
wire,
who can't bound down the street
in a new pair of sneakers,
who never
"counted potatoes,"
who are born in
places where we wouldn't be caught
dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their
lunch money.
And we pray for those
who never get
dessert,
who have no safe blanket to
drag behind them,
who watch their
parents watch them die,
who can't find any bread to steal,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's
dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We pray for children who spend all
their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery
store and pick at their food,
who like
ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes
under the bed,
who never rinse out
the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of
the carpool,
who squirm in church and
scream in the phone,
whose tears we
sometimes laugh at and
whose smiles
can make us cry.
And we pray for those
whose nightmares
come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't
spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry
and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and
move, but have no being.
We pray for children
who want to be carried
and for those who must,
who we never give
up on and for those who don't get a second
chance.
For those we smother and . . .
for those who will grab the hand of anybody
kind enough to offer it.
In Memory of........
Natalie Brooks, student age 12
Paige Ann Herring, student age 12
Stephanie Johnson, student age 12
Brittany R. Varner, student age 11
Shannon Wright, Teacher age 32
This is in memory of the children and teacher killed in the shooting on Tuesday, March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
