Little Boy, You've Been Hurt

Little boy, you’ve been hurt, you are bleeding.
Your father must help you walk to the doctor,
And you have trouble breathing.

You are so frightened that you can’t cry,
Though you try with all your might.

You fell off your bicycle—
You really shouldn’t have been riding it so fast down the hill, you know,
No matter how exciting the parade was.

But you will not die.
You will live to ride your bike again,
And to fall off again and be hurt many times in many ways.

But you will also live to experience the thrill
Of riding down the hill too fast again in the excitement of the parade.

I feel your hurt and your fear now
For I, too, have fallen victim
To the excitement of the parade.