Ymca Annex

Mounted on one wall a board wrapped in brown paper. A signal of impermanence for children. Painted were a rainbow and a hundred tiny hands in the colors of poster paint all spread palm up, receptive, uninformed. As I heard the echos of soprano voices I felt the fantasy of tiny fingers brushing my sophisticated face. Smiling all around, the people brought the smiles in. They were not manufactured there, but heated in the lives that came there, retaining their warmth through the hours, saying hello and hello and welcome everyone.