TO MY
SON
A Poem
You say,
No -
You
demand
I allow
you to be
An adult.
You rail
and yell
And
curse
Everything
that I am,
Everything
I believe in,
Everything
I have given of myself for you
To
prepare you
To be an
adult.
You’re
missing the point
In your
need to be free
That I
want nothing more
Than for
you to be
The man
you want to be.
You say
you want
To fly
and be free.
I want
that too.
No,
No I don’t.
I want
you to stand
On your
own two feet,
Strong
And rock
solid,
With
strength in your convictions
And a
moral compass
That you’re willing to ignore
Sometimes
In order
to do the right thing.
I want
you to be able
To move
forward
And make
your choices,
Whether
they’re choices
I would
make
Or not,
And not
need backup
Even if
it is always there.
I want
you to see
The
future
And use
the past
To make
it better.
I want
you to teach
And be
teachable,
To never
accept
Without
questioning,
To give
generously
Of your
time
And your
money
And your
heart -
Because
it is your best feature -
That
heart,
With
your perseverance
A close
second,
I don’t
want you to fly
Because
in flying
You can’t
always see
The
ground falling away beneath you.
I want
you to walk.
No,
I want
you to run
And
embrace the world,
To love
And be
loved.
I want
you to surge forward
And not
be afraid
Or
unwilling
To look
back.
I want
you to do new things
And
explore new places,
Whether they
exist
On this
earth
Or in
your imagination.
I want
you to hope
And
dream,
And tie
yourself up in knots
Over
someone
Who
makes you feel like
You’re
invincible
And
vulnerable.
But don’t
be invincible.
Be
vulnerable.
And
allow yourself
To get
lost sometimes,
And to
be found
And discovered
And
explored.
I want
you to live,
To grow,
To
thrive,
To find
a place that is
Uniquely
yours
And let
it enfold you.
I want
you to be you -
Only you -
The man
you are,
The man
I see
Who is
demanding I acknowledge him,
Which I
do.
You just
don’t see it yet
Because
you don’t see
Your self.
