Nothing touches us so deeply Than the tears of our children When darkness engulfs them Smothering all the beauty of youth When adulthood is just too hard And they need to crawl back to the womb But are too stubborn Too addicted Too afraid What does your heart do when stretched Beyond recognition Fragments of a childhood laid ****** and bare for all to see And thereβs nothing you can do thereβs nowhere to run from this The mistakes you made You loved too hard You scolded too little You were too hard when softness was needed Too soft when you needed to be harder And all you can do is be there Be solid and be present Even when the child is running at the speed of light in the opposite direction Be present Be available Swallow this bitter pill And pray upon your knees