The children have lived
lives
I never knew

One went to war
One went to deprivation
Both knew true suffering

I stand beyond
time and distance's separation
offering meager alms

Some of us are salmon
struggling up stream
Others are hawks
flying free in the jet stream

I don't know about you
but transitions
have never come easily
for me

Intervention or natural consequences
The rolling dice play out

In the end
the outcomes will come
long after I'm done and gone.