I Am the Children

I say I wish to work with children,
that I wish to work with those with special needs,
but the desire goes so much deeper than that,
for I can identify with and relate to so many.
I can relate to the foster child, the adopted child.
I can relate to the traumatized child
and the child with special needs.
I have been in the shoes of children
who are shunned and ostracized by their classmates
and those who have been underestimated and misunderstood.
I can identify with the child who has
been abused and neglected by their biological parents.
I can relate to the child separated from his/her siblings.
I have been the child with a trigger word
and the child who cries in school.
I was the dyslexic child, the struggling student,
the ordinary, average child.
I have been in the shoes of children who feel powerless,
who feel unwanted, and those who fantasize about death.
I've been the bullied child and the bully.
(For I copied the actions of my biological parents for a time.)
I can identify with and relate to the children
who view yelling and shouting as the presages of violence.
I can relate the the lonely children
who have changed schools yet again.
I know what it is to become used to being the outcast and the outsider,
so much so that you stop caring whether or not you'd fit in.
So when I say I want to help the children,
these are the ones I want to encourage,
these are the ones I want to light the way for.
For at one time I was viewed as a student
with little potential and in the end,
it turned out I was the gifted child all along.
I am ALL of these children
and they deserve to know they are not alone.