ODE TO A TATTOO
I once had a child who took my breath away.
Everything was new and exciting because of her.
Behind every corner awaited a new adventure.
The clouds were cartoons and epic novels.
The water was full of hope and of the ages.
Her smile made my heart younger, and her cry,
took my soul to new
depths of unhappiness
I gave that child wings and told her to fly and she did just
that.
And with every beat of her wings as she flew from me,
my eyes became more
wrinkled and could no longer see
as a young person
sees.
I cried for her to return to me, knowing she could not,
Because the soul grows old and cannot renew itself.
Whereas, her young soul must be as it was meant to be.
Far from mine.
Today, I decided I would share a poem with you. It began with thoughts of one child and turned into thoughts of the other. I have always held the belief from The Prophet by Kalil Gibran where he says something to the effect that your children don't belong to you. I feel they are simple with us to housebreak the best we can manage and then send them out into the world to make a difference. To come into the world and go out of it, leaving it better because you were there. Life's purpose via Smother.
Go forth and prosper.
Me and the two I housebroke and gave wings to. I think I did a pretty good job.
Lol loo. Smother
I have to agree with your thoughts on giving your children wings & the encouragement to leave. Today is so different from the leaving though that our ancestors faced - I think about how my aunt's (by marriage) aunt was raised in Missouri & fell in love with a young man on a wagon train going to Oregon. She married him & left the family, friends and area where she was raised. How brave & scary for her & how hard on her family. In those days, there were no telephones & 24 hour news reports to follow - no GPS, no Skype, no emails, nothing except letters if you could write & read. I also think of the difference that our soldier's and their families experience now vs. my generation's experience in Viet Nam. Letters were the only communication except for an occasional phone call if they got to go on R & R. I think (no actual experience myself) that now they can email and Skype frequently. I'm not sure that is easier or not for the family and the soldier.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, I'm glad that my children have wings and did fly - but I sure do love these modern devices that enable me to feel they are not soooooo far away!!