Being your parents is like tending the garden in winter,
something done only in heart, in imagination and in soul.
It doesn’t involve doing so much as believing and waiting.
Enforcing the rules even when you hated us for doing so;
we’ve loved you, cried for you, prayed, worried, hoped, and waited.
All the important choices were in your hands,
so we had to believe that the branches we saw whither and die,
lying frozen under the snow, would blossom again.
Miraculous spring--
dried brown plants have not only survived but have sent forth shoots,
bigger and greener than the year before.
All through the winter, undetectably, there was growth.
Your work continues. You face challenges each day—staying away from drugs,
making healthy choices, thinking through rather than giving in to impulse,
and having the courage to do what you know is right.
We will always cheer you on and encourage you if you should fall. Spring is here. The garden is growing gloriously. You seem happy again. You smile and laugh again. You have goals and dreams once again. These are what we celebrate today.
A contest entry
- Prompt around 20 lines by mysticstorm.
1000 points, ended July 9, 10 entries
Honorable winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
This write is based on something I wrote in 2003 when my son completed a rehab program. Sadly, we have been through other "winters" and "springs".
Comments
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Excellent
What a wonderful creation for the contest. So very well done. Congrats on the honorable mention.
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being a parent brings many changes and like the seasons we look forward to the next. Emotional and thoughtful.
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Many winters and springs I have seen...This is a beautiful and deeply felt write of what it is like and with each new spring we hope the bitter cold of winter shall not touch our heart again...
thank you so much for your time and support...
mystic -
Such true thoughts on being parents. What an interesting allegory...yet a very appropriate one! Yes, thete can be many winters and springs in parenting.
I hope your son stays on the straight path now.
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