now watch a mother push her daughter
laughing, on a swing;
now ever see the joy that is
or can be, everything
not on the phone off somewhere else,
but focused on – and of –
now love the moments that you have,
while they are there
to love
Tag: Parents and Children
Child’s Drawing
There’s little that I own that means as much.
I smile every single time I see;
From when she was a person filled with love –
The girl I hope, once more,
That she can
Be
To share is human:
Orphaned
What she’s lost
Only her sister would know
No mother there to see her success
Nor to see the woman that she
Has become
No father to call now
When she has car troubles
Nor to walk her down the aisle
No parents to be there
When her first child is born
And ‘family’ at Christmas
Will always be incomplete
Another day on the calendar
To you and me
A time of unspeakable sadness
To her
And to her sister
The orphaned
All around us
We should love them
If we possibly can
That much extra
To share is human:
Ghosts
I see small kids at play across the street;
A young boy riding in my grocery cart.
I see teens practicing, a marching band;
I see not with my eyes, but with my heart –
I hear a cello from my living room;
I hear small voices making idle boasts.
I hear, as parents do, who’ve raised their kids,
For all who have, know true belief in ghosts –
They haunt us as we go about our days,
And in our dreams they place us way-back-when;
These ghosts, our younger children, crowd our minds
With days that cannot ever be again
To share is human:
The Ill-Begotten Mirror
He worked with all his expertise
To make a master’s mirror;
And into it, he tried to squeeze
A way to see things clearer
And as the years went by, he gazed
Into its surface proudly –
While doing so, he often praised
His own work, rather loudly
But years went by; he saw that he
Looked horrid through its lens,
Some sort of awful parody,
No class, no soul, no friends
He grew to hate the mirror for
The ugliness he saw:
He’d made it fine – now it was poor,
A giant loathsome flaw
He threw it out one summer day
With satisfaction grim;
He hated what he saw in it –
For it reflected
Him
To share is human:
Piano Dreams
I have played the piano
Since I was just a boy;
To sit and plyay for hours
Has long been my great joy.
The songs I most remember
Are somewhat recondite;
But once passed through my fingers,
I dream of them at night.
Yes, I dream in piano –
The visions sweet and pure –
The soundtrack of my life is
Always in my heart for sure.
To learn to play when just a child,
Musical ecstasy:
My parents couldn’t give
A greater gift
Of love
To me
(In response to this prompt.)
To share is human:
Internal Transcript
I don’t approve of parents “disowning” their children
But I understand what motivates it
No one can reject you as completely
As your own child
All the while,
Wearing the mantle of martyr
In doing it
They disavow everything you stand for
They ridicule and mock everyone like you
Then say they seek your approval
But they don’t:
You don’t seek the approval
Of people you DESPISE
They have all the approval they need from their peers
They all think and say the same things
And without having contributed a thing to the world
Stand ready to burn it to the ground
And remake it in their perfect image
