Crayons
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A painter owned a fridge, and He had two kids,
And He gave them crayons, that they'd draw Him pictures.
"Go be like Daddy, and make something nice,
It makes me happy to see what you write!"
They sat in the corner for a good day or two,
They wrote up a garden, all littered with fruit.
They gave Him their picture, and He so liked their art,
He put it on the fridge and said "What a nice start!
"Now go be like Daddy," He patted our heads,
"and rest for a night and go lay in your beds."
So He put them in bed, and told them great tales
about giants and Israelites, and ships without sails.
The sun rose in the sky, and they woke up once more,
and He handed them crayons as He knocked on their door.
"Now go be like Daddy, which I know you love to do,
and make some more pictures, beautiful and new!"
They returned to their corner, and thought in their heads,
'What else can we do, what should we draw next?'
They drew up a river, with a tree in the center.
He loved it, loved them, and hung it on the refrigerator.
He sent them to bed, and told them more stories,
about sea beasts and kings with much gold and much glory.
"Goodnight, Son and Daughter, and don't you forget,
school starts tomorrow, and you need to do your best.
"I've taught you to draw well, but it is apparent
there are some kids out there with less loving parents.
Now they're kids just like you, it's important to be nice,
but when they show you their pictures, don't you dare look twice."
The next morning came, and He them their lunches,
led them to the bus, said he He loved them bunches.
An exciting new world, to show off our skills!
Other children who color, like us? The thought gave them thrills.
They came back home, a little past noon,
He said "Alright, guys, let's see what you do.
Be just like daddy, and show me how it went,
by drawing the best picture youve made yet!"
He gave them their crayons, and they drew till it was late,
when they returned, they had drawn up some snakes.
"That's odd," thought Daddy, "look at those fangs,
I surely didn't teach them such sinister things.
"Son," said He, "Daughter, I'm sorry,
I simply can't hang up something this scary.
Go right to bed, Ill see you in the morning.
I still love you, let's see how you do tomorrow."
Daddy is acting strange, we did what He wanted,
is He sick of our art, Sister, of what we've been drawing?
But drawing is fun, Brother, it's all we know how to do,
we can still draw, just me and you.
You're right, Sister, said Brother, drawing feels so right,
We will pick up tomorrow. But for now, goodnight!
Then the sun rose again, the bus pulled up to the road,
"Alright, kids," He said, "Let's have another go."
But when the kids came back home, each day it got worse.
In place of sweet poems, they learned to write curses.
Instead of two smiling figures holding Daddy's hands,
they'd taken to depicting a big, angry man.
The gardens got dusty, the rivers were dry,
We don't have to draw daddy, just you and I.
The honey was grease, the horses were dragons,
Lollipops became swords, Eden, the badlands.
Daddy was wrong, making us draw those hard things.
Sister, these pictures are much more entertaining!
Brother you're right, and even better, too,
they're so much easier, and quicker to do.
Instead of one hard thing, we just made twenty!
And to think Daddy doesnt like them. Isn't that funny?
It's not funny at all, Sister, He doesn't like them at all.
Let's just not show Him our drawings. We don't need His approval.
So the kids came home each day, and to Daddy's distress,
not so much as a "hey," or a twirl of the dress.
The Son and the Daughter took the crayons to their room,
And they didn't leave till the bus came, they just drew, and drew.
But like all loving fathers, Daddy did what he needs,
He spanked them when He caught them drawing atrocities.
Their punishment was just, but the kids didn't care.
Daddy is the enemy, none of this is fair.
"What's going on with my beautiful children,
oh how the world has twisted and hurt them!
And they like what they're drawing, it just isn't right.
Their upsides are down, and downsides are right."
Then He had an idea, Daddy got clever,
He sat down and drew outlines of things that were better.
He spent all His energy, hours on end,
To carefully outline every curve and bend.
He drew black and white oceans, savannas and sunsets,
rivers and waterfalls, stars and some planets.
He drew good tasting food, intricate trees,
what's more, he made thousands and thousands of these.
One day after school, before the kids hid away,
"Come here, Son and Daughter, I have something to say.
For years now you've ignored and despised what I gave,
and your skills with the crayon are utterly depraved.
"You've drawn horrible things, and brought down disgrace.
I should have thrown you two out of this place.
You hate what I taught you, and all that I made,
and to you two I have one thing to say-"
No more, Daddy! Be quiet! They cried long and hard.
We don't want to get hurt, we don't want it at all!
We just do what you taught us, and you hate what we make!
It isn't fair to disown us and toss us away!
Just do what you will, if you must, but hear this:
Daddy, we hate you, and don't care if you hit us.
Go on, hit us and send us down the hall,
But we won't feel sorry, we wont care at all!
"Oh children, my kids, you have it all wrong.
I love you too much to hate you at all.
I may give you spankings, but it's for your own good,
but this problem of ours requires something new.
"Look, you spend all this time coloring your own things,
You can't tell right from wrong, you're lost, and you're losing.
I miss the old days, when you put things on my fridge,
when you pleased me with all of your beautiful images,
"Things aren't the same, so I've made you some templates,
I've drawn up plenty of beautiful, good things.
You can color them in, no more drafting required!
All the hard work of making new pictures is over!
"All I ask of you now is to color in the lines,
just give it a shot, just like old times."
The Son and the Daughter, amazed at this gesture,
Could do nothing more than stare at the pictures.
Daddy actually loves us, Sister, look at these things!
They're so beautiful, Brother, and there are so many!
This is far better, Sister, we were doing it all wrong,
a new way to color, and we can color for so long!
So the kids threw out their ugly and hateful typography,
the selfish and crude, all their horrid calligraphy,
they were made to color in lines, all bright and lovely,
"One more thing, kids," said He, "Could you do something for me?
"Take all of these pictures, the ones you'll color in,
And take them to school to show all the children.
You've seen what they draw, they're so lost with bad parents.
So no more refrigerator, give the pictures to them."
So the Son and the Daughter colored this new way forever,
they would no longer wonder if they could do better.
Assured their Daddy loves them, they shared all their pictures,
and changed the lives of millions of children.
E.D.D.
