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    The Outrageously Short Poem that Could Change Your Life (Or Your Kids’)

    Readers — Here’s a poem to keep in your pocket…forever. It came to me by way of Bob Weiman, director of the lower school/assistant head of school at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes in Alexandria, VA:

    COME nzansdhndn
    TO THE EDGE, by Christopher Logue

    Come to the edge.
    We might fall.
    Come to the edge.
    It’s too high!
    COME TO THE EDGE!
    And they came,
    and we pushed,
    And they flew.

    Come to the edge.
    Come to the edge.
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    16 Comments

    1. SKL on

      This reminds me of a story from Japan (I believe) where the little kids were taking the superhero cartoons so seriously that a number of them jumped to their deaths trying to “fly” from their balconies. There was a public service announcement telling parents to talk to their kids and make sure they understand that superpowers are pretend.

      So you really should have put a warning in small print when you posted that poem. 😛

    2. SKL on

      But seriously, this is a repeating experience at my house. My kids are taught by all sorts of forces, along with their own internal doubts, to fear independence.

      The latest was going and meeting the new neighbors, who have kids around the same age as my kids. It took a lot to get my eldest (almost 8) to go over there and introduce herself, but she did it. Now she knows it will not kill her to introduce herself to new people (including adults). Her 7yo sister refused to go over there until after she saw her sister chatting and not being struck down by lightning. 😛

    4. Roger the Shrubber on

      DISCLAIMER: This poem is an allegory. Children cannot fly. If pushed from a high enough cliff, your child will die. Please do not push your children from a cliff thinking that they can fly.

    6. bobca on

      As Kurt Vonnegut is quoted as saying…”I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.”

    7. Reziac on

      Don’t be silly. Every kid knows you have to take three running steps before the red jammies can fly. 😉

      Seriously, I suspect the issue in Japan may come from stuff like kids being taught that tamagotchi devices are “pets” — in other words, they’re taught that fantasy is reality, and kids *are* smart enough to extrapolate that in unfortunate ways (eg. if this electronic device is a pet that dies if I neglect it, maybe the red jammies really can fly).

    9. lollipoplover on

      I love, love this.
      So many kids today don’t take chances and are filled with fear, especially irrational fears. No doubt because the signs posted about potential warnings that come with every edge.

    11. Chris G. on

      “Come to the edge, He said. They said, We are afraid. Come to the edge, He said. They came. He pushed them…and they flew.” Guillaume Apollinaire

    15. Andrew on

      Brad: I am very happy to be corrected, but can you give a citation for the attribution to Saint-Exupéry? The link I gave above, and various other sources, explain the confusion between Logue and Apollinaire, but don’t mention Saint-Exupéry.