I know why the lockdown child hopes By Thomas aged 10 A free child plays in the school playground and runs in the park till the grass is no more and dips his toes in the crystal blue stream and dares to claim the world. But a child that is stuck in his lockdown home can seldom see past his desire to roam his freedom is lost and his friends are gone so he opens his mind to hope. The lockdown child thinks of things to say worries and anxieties fill their day he lies on his bed wiping his tears away for the lockdown child dreams of normality. The free child thinks of his closest friend And the games they play that never end And the sugary sweets waiting in a colourful jar at home And he knows his part in the world. But a lockdown child's friends are silhouettes in his mind, behind locked doors he can never find. His freedom is lost and his friends are gone so he opens his mind to hope. The lockdown child thinks of things to say worries and anxieties fill their day he lies on his bed wiping his tears away for the lockdown child dreams of normality.