A prism hung in our window one morn

Casting rainbows all around the room;

Rainbows and dirt did our floor adorn,

So I stepped over to get the broom.

 

Rainbows are pretty, but dirt is not;

And I didn't like to see them mixed:

Dirt and beauty have always fought,

But my attempt to sort them out was nixed.

 

"Don't sweep up the rainbows!" my child said,

"I hung the prism there for a reason:

It reminds me that when things look bad,

The bad things only last a season.

 

"The bad things will soon be swept away,

But the good ones just keep shining on:

Don't sweep up the rainbows—let them stay—

I want them there when the dirt is gone."

 

 

A poem written by James and Eli

the morning of 9 May 2004