you cannot die
you cannot grow old.
I would defy, yet there is grey
above your temples.
but you cannot die
for how could that be?
you were born of me
so
how can you ever die
if I say “no!”
and that is why
when the wave came and knocked you down
I smacked you hard
and made you cry
for I
was fiercer than any wave
could ever be.
Thanks folks! She was never naughty! Just like her mother!
A really beautiful photo and a tender poem.
I followed in my mother's footsteps - smacked my kids till they knew who was boss, in the early days - there was never any need thereafter - and they don't resent me for it. I once went to a parenting class run by a rather religious lady (can't remember whether she was baptist or methodist). She used to wack her kids with a wooden spoon - it came as a shock to some of the other mothers! The gist of what she was saying was that children NEED boundaries - are lost without them. I guess we all have different way of putting those in place. A good bit of discipline wouldn't do the current society any harm though. ( she says jumping down from he soap box)
Lovely, especially the last line, hope you're OK down there. Great picture, I'm a once only smacker too (so far).
Powerful sentiments... Lovely photo too.
Haven't we all? Your honesty and power of connecting is just amazing. I think your beauty is the stuff of artists' dreams; it was in this photo and still is. I believe artists would recognize the inherent imagination pouring out of you and would want to try to capture it.
An old photo - alas! And my darling daughter is fine! Just the thoughts a mother has when her offspring are getting on a bit! (But still lovely!) Just a memory of the only time I ever smacked her - and she STILL resents it! (Quite right too!)
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Elaine Booth
Mon 22nd Nov 2010 21:43
Lovely, Ann - poem and photo. I really feel here that shock one feels as a parent sometimes: the shock of the wave that could have drowned, the fear that sometimes leads us to smack or shout and then also the shock of seeing your child grow old too. And the fear that never goes away - "make sure I die first". No, smacking never worked for me - all he did was smack me back!! Well, he was quite young. I'm afraid my raised voice is enough...! x