Make Believe

Reading this poem, I was struck by how it captures the uncertainty and longing for reassurance that characterized the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the central question she poses—“Mr. Rogers, what would you say to us now?”—feels just as relevant in 2025 as it did then.

Mr. Rogers was far more than a beloved television host. He was a producer, author, musician, composer, screenwriter, theologian, and Presbyterian minister. In all these roles, he consistently championed the transformative power of kindness. One of his favorite sayings, adapted from Henry James, encapsulates his philosophy:

There are three ways to ultimate success:
The first way is to be kind.
The second way is to be kind.
The third way is to be kind.

He meant being kind to everyone—not just the people we love, live with, work with, and go to school with; not just the people who look like us or act like us; and not just the people whose beliefs and opionions share. He meant everyone, everywhere, all the time. Even if it makes us uncomfortable. Even if it makes us afraid.

Make Believe

by Emilie Lygren

Mr. Rogers, what would you say to us now?
I miss your soft voice and slow smile. 

Somehow you would remind us

of what it means to share a neighborhood, 

how our breath travels farther than we think,
but so can our care. 

You would’ve made the puppets wear tiny cloth masks,
had them ask all the questions children need to ask like 

Why and How Long? and Can’t we…?

let Daniel Tiger feel sad and angry, itchy under the ear straps.

You would have explained it all patiently and truthfully: 

No, we don’t know how long. 
Yes, it’s OK to feel afraid.
This is how we care for everyone right now. 

Maybe the adults would have listened, too.

Published in The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection & Joy (Storey Publishing, 2022)