Four Children

Four Children

 

Four children ran laughing,

only three of them for real;

the other maybe felt he did not need to

as he suspected he may well have been lied to

about what had or had not been revealed.

 

Four children sat waiting

though only three of them really cared

about what would transpire.

Fourth child was only tired,

only closing his eyes when he dared.

 

Four children began crying

but only three of them meant it.

Fourth one whispered out loud

how they had taken his cloud

as if they were the ones who had invented it.

 

Four children learned to dance then

though only one of them very well;

his simple nuance to begin the routine

was an almost effortless pirouette

before the curtain so unfairly fell.

 

One child was warned that his life was in danger,

in response pulled music from thin air,

correctly deduced and grasped the situation.

Could have won any game that he wanted to,

yet was always to the others seemed a stranger.

 

Four children lived lives led by unyielding destiny,

some blown far off course as only unbiased fate can.

Different compass points presented for each of them,

different eyes and ears would serve to teach them;

but all four grew up to be the same man