Friday, April 6, 2007

A poem to my son.


The Brush

Young, beautiful boy
See through my eyes and prepare your journey.

Take my hand so that I may help you begin to
live and love in the vibrancy of your transcendent soul.

Take this brush and together we will begin to paint on the
canvas of your life.

Hand in hand I will guide your brush but not direct.

When I let slip my grasp you will know you are the artist
of your life's design.

You will live the life you choose but you will never be alone
in doing so.

I will be there within you and without.

You are the distinct and profound expression of the love in my life
and all those who have come before us.

So, hold on high that which brought you to me and will forever be
a part of who you are.

As you are the only true answer to why I ever was.

On some special day you will become the shepherd of another soul.

Bring forward that which we have learned together and apart,
and start anew.

With a gentle hand, display the artistry of your life and endow
the next with all that you are and could ever be.

And as the painting of your life matures and you turn to face the
result of your creation, look for me watching you.




1 comment:

  1. What a beautiful poem! And what a lovely son.

    Van Morrison had a poem for child that fits perfectly.

    Here it is:

    When the child was a child
    It walked with arms hanging
    Wanted the stream to be a river and the river a torrent
    And this puddle, the sea
    When the child was a child, it didn't know
    It was a child
    Everything for it was filled with life and all life was one
    Saw the horizon without trying to reach it
    Couldn't rush itself
    And think on command
    Was often terribly bored
    And couldn't wait
    Passed up greeting the moments
    And prayed only with it's lips
    When the child was a child
    It didn't have an opinion about a thing
    Had no habits
    Often sat crossed-legged, took off running
    Had a cow lick in it's hair
    And didn't put on a face when photographed

    When the child was a child
    It was the time of the following questions
    Why am I me and why not you
    Why am I here and why not there
    Why did time begin and where does space end
    Isn't what I see and hear and smell
    Just the appearance of the world in front of the world
    Isn't life under the sun just a dream
    Does evil actually exist in people
    Who really are evil
    Why can't it be that I who am
    Wasn't before I was
    And that sometime I, the I, I am
    No longer will be the I, I am

    When the child was a child
    It gagged on spinach, on peas, on rice pudding
    And on steamed cauliflower
    And now eats all of it and not just because it has to
    When the child was a child
    It woke up once in a strange bed
    And now time and time again
    Many people seem beautiful to it
    And now not so many and now only if it's lucky
    It had a precise picture of paradise
    And now can only vaguely conceive of it at best
    It couldn't imagine nothingness
    And today shudders in the face of it
    Go for the ball
    Which today rolls between it's legs
    With it's I'm here it came
    Into the house which now is empty

    When the child was a child
    It played with enthusiasm
    And now only with such former concentration
    Where it's work is concerned
    When the game, task, activity, subject happens to be it's work

    When the child was a child
    It was enough to live on apples and bread
    And it's still that way
    When the child was a child berries fell
    Only like berries into it's hand
    And still do
    The fresh walnuts made it's tongue raw
    And still do
    Atop each mountain it craved
    Yet a higher mountain
    And in each city it craved
    Yet a bigger city
    And still does
    Reach for the cherries in the treetop
    As elated as it still is today
    Was shy in front of strangers
    And still is
    It waited for the first snow
    And still waits that way
    When the child was a child
    It waited restlessly each day for the return of the loved one
    And still waits that way
    When the child was a child
    It hurled a stick like a lance into a tree
    And it's still quivering there today

    The child, the child was a child
    Was a child, was a child, was a child, was a child
    Child, child, child
    When the child, when the child, when the child
    When the child, when the child
    The child, child, child, child, child

    *And on and on and on and on and onward
    With a sense of wonder
    Upon the highest hill
    Upon the highest hill
    When the child was a child
    Are you there
    Shassas, shassas
    Up on a highest hill
    When the child was a child, was a child, was a child
    Was a child, was a child, was a child

    VM

    Why am I me and not you. Twas ever thus.

    Luv ya both.

    C

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