“The whole world will tell them what’s wrong with them–out loud and often.”

Keeping our youth and yesterdays alive / Comrades with one history.

Let us realize that along with food, shelter, and clothing

We deprive them of the experience that comes from wrestling with their own problems.

The resentment that each child feels for the privileges of the other;

Deep inside you know / when trouble comes / and there’s no one else to turn to

No wonder they mobilize all their energy to have more or most. Or better still, all.

Add to that the envy that one child feels for the accomplishments of the other;

I was a wonderful parent before I had children.

From their verbal sparring they learn the difference between being clever and being hurtful.

The personal frustrations that they don’t dare let out on anyone else but a brother or sister,

I was an expert on why everyone else was having problems with theirs. Then I had three of my own.

From their endless rough-housing with each other, they develop speed and agility.

I was a wonderful parent before I had children.

Our job is to let our children know what’s right about them.

Comforters for our todays / Guardians of memories

We put him in touch with his inner reality.

The life expectancy of the 40-year-old American is near the lowest in the world.

It is easier to tell a story of how people wound one another than of what binds them together.

I want the poem to be as true as humanly possible to the feeling that inspired it.

A bargain is something you don’t need at a price you can’t resist.

No one can escape stress, but you can learn to cope with it.

Sometimes the good fight feels impossible, but I for one, am not giving up.

That doesn’t mean that your curiosity is ever totally satisfied.

And its up to the audience to interpret rather than you putting moral stamp on the character.