Did the children of old play as we do now? Did they play in fields where the grass went to their knees?
And the finches sang in the trees?
Did they laugh and fall and cry and sing?
Did they play as we do now?
The answer is yes, and the answer is no
We play in places where war is a mere game
Where you can place a block and create a home
Where shooting another being is nothing but a chance to advance
The children of old played in places where war was their future
They played where building a home would mean survival
Where shooting a person would leave blood on their hands and a mark on their soul
But it was still only a game until it wasn’t
So, I suppose this is not the question that gives us the answer
Let us rewrite this poem and see if we can get where we mean to be
Let us instead ask; did the children pretend?
Did the children of old pretend as we do now?
Did they pretend that the world was perfect?
That all was alright and that all was okay?
Did they pretend that the world was the problem of the adults
And that it would be fixed by the time they grew?
Again the answer is no, and again the answer is yes
We pretend that our world is ideal
We pretend that no one is discriminating
And that no one lives in fear
We pretend that nothing worse can happen than what already has
The children of old pretended that their world was flawless
They pretended that the color of someone’s skin decided their worth
And that the problems of others were not their own
They pretended that what was happening would never happen to them
It was all only pretend until it wasn’t
Again I fear this is the wrong question
Or maybe it is half of the whole
What I wish to know is if the children of old were so different from us
They played as we did
But in a way that mattered
They pretended as we do
But their ignorance may have doomed us
They are the same as we are today
Until they aren’t
So again let us rewrite this poem
But instead of asking did the children play
Or did the children pretend
Let us combine the two and instead ask;
Did the children play pretend?
Did the children of old play pretend as we do now?
Did they pretend they had wings
and could fly through the sky?
Did they pretend they had a tail
And could swim fast and far?
Did they play pretend that the future was better
And that they were alright?
Did they play that the people who hurt them were only pretending?
Or did they know the truth about playing pretend?
That it would die when the clock struck midnight
And the only children left are the ones who pretended to play
--Helen T., 9th-12th Grade
