A Letter to My Clients

This is a letter to my clients

Aged four to seventeen: 

I remember our first meeting. 

I had a badge and a degree

On which the ink had not yet dried. 

You hid behind your mother

As she told me all her fears

About autism, abuse, bipolar,

Ostracism from your peers

And she looked at me, just 23, as if she expected me to know the answers. 

"Do you like games?" I asked. 

You responded with a grin. 

So we sat and talked about our pets. 

And the nightmares you hope will end. 

I wondered how a tiny body could hold so much pain. 

Through all the lectures, arts, and crafts

And crying through the hurt

I learned that even children

Can overcome the worst

With the help of LEGOs and crayons. 

Now some of you write me letters

About how much you needed me.

Yet I knew nothing about life

Until I witnessed you succeed. 

Thank you for all the lessons in strength. 

Love, 

Your Social Worker