Parenthood– a Reflection

PARENTHOOD

Parenthood’s a mirror

Revealing all your flaws

You try to repress them

A rebel with a cause

But it does not work, it cannot work

Because despite it all

Those flaws just keep appearing

Like writing on a wall.

So, you divert attention

To things you do quite well

To avoid listening to the voice

That has that truth to tell

You revel in successes

That don’t involve your child

You ignore their plaintive calling

‘Spend time with me awhile’

You rationalize and realize

You thought it was God’s call

To do all these other things

As most important of all.

You hear a Harry Chapin song

About a traveling Dad

Who avoided his child’s play

And made his son quite sad.

What goes around, comes around

And now the child’s a man

With a father asking for his time

And the son says- ‘someday I can’

Perhaps you should have listened

When the poignant poet cried:

‘The saddest words of tongue or pen

What might have been, what might have been’

BW3.  3/31/23