Everyone

Everyone you pass each day
Was once a little child,
Who listened to the rules or else
Ignored them and ran wild.

Who played with toys or dolls
And sat in school and tried to learn,
Who pushed to get ahead or, patient,
Waited for his turn.

Who dreamed of growing up to be
Whatever was appealing
And learned to deal, in her own way,
With all that she was feeling.

It’s easy to forget that all
The people that we see
Have reasons to explain the way
That they turned out to be.

It might be helpful then, to think,
When praise or blame be sung,
That this was well-established
Back when each of us was young.