THE ORIGINAL PIED PIPERS

 

Parents

the Original Pied Pipers

made children appear - 

and when they did,

made them crawl,

dance to their tunes,

sleep to their lullabies,

read to their angry tones.

Dressed them, 

poor mannequin dolls - 

hair their way

clothes their way.

The mannequins

now turned 

walkie-talkies at parents' bidding - 

paraded in front of uncles, aunts, 'the whole school'

'participated in 'This Got Talent'

'That Got Talent'

twisting bodies and minds

forced to count and read

before they could walk and talk properly.

Complaints piled up

"your child is running down the corridor"

"your child laughs too loudly"

"your child cannot pronounce properly"

"your child is a dunce"

And Pied Piper parents

hold all the answers - 

grades, grades, grades

concentrate, study -

"my child is a genius!"

"my child is an engineer!"

"my child has a job!"

"my child is getting married!"

Somewhere in the midst of it all - 

So silently, no one noticed

the mountain had slid open

and both childhood and children

had disappeared.