The parents try to

imitate their child: its hopes --


and its energy.

There's this certain feeling
That only some can give
Hurting instead of healing
Leaving you to question how you live

Why am I always out of place
Always wrong, no matter how hard I try
The shame bright on my face
As I choke down the need to cry

Every argument drains me
Leaving their smiles smug
How I wish they'd hear my plea
Instead of brushing my pain under the rug

Why can't the see this calm is fake
How each insult hurts more and more
Why can't the give instead of take
Isn't that what family's for?

When does life get fair?
How long does it take to dare
To wake each day and take the chance
That today is the day, life will become the Dance

We're born into a chaotic world
To parents that know not what to do
They do thier best to raise us up right
But this world sure gives them a fight

We grow so fast, our parents can hardly keep up
First an infant, then a toddler,  soon a child, growth like a pup
We begin school, elementary to start
Twelve years go by like the beat of a heart
Teenage years start and pass as our parents continue to try
To catch the years that pass by them at the speed of light
Next thing you know, we Graduate from high school , move out, and start our own plight

Our parents watch us as we grow from infant to adult
And they marvel at the people we have become
Remembering the days we played horseyback on the floor
Next thing they know, we're out the door

We find that special someone, get married or not
Have children of our own, the cycle begins again on the spot
We remember what we've put our parents through, then
We're always on the phone asking for advise about when

Our children will follow the milestones we did
We depend on our parents as babysitters to our kids
They're our advise givers and our best friends and they forgive
Grandparents they become after a full life lived

Our children grow as fast as we did
We try so hard to keep them as a kid
Maybe, someday, Grandparents we will be, early or not
Only time will tell, time is what we got

Life as we know it has changed once again
The time has come for our parents time to end
We spend as much time as possible before the end of thiers
Knowing in our heart of hearts, They'll soon see those glorious stairs

They will rise from this chaotic world
Up to Heaven and join God's fold
Relief from pain and peacefulness awaits them on the other side
We watch them go, only along for the ride

Someday peace comes to us all
Family gone before us standing tall
Within the Pearly Gates we will be
Our Savior Lord Jesus Christ with thee
And someday walk hand in hand from this chaotic world
To the best place we could ever be

No more pain, no more grief, no more chaos, we are free
The Golden Gates of Heaven we see
We leave behind a precious few, Knowing that someday, they will be with us too

His childhood room sits atop of a minefield;
With words berating against the walls;
Breakfast comes in a belittling bowl;
As the lieutenants loiter within the halls.

Stand by, move cautiously;
You might set something off.
Keep close track of your every move,
Perfect the execution or they'll disapprove.

Dare not to cry, keep those fears hidden;
Showing weakness around here is deadly forbidden.
Lost in the field of verbal grenades;
Thrown by those meant to provide him shelter.

It’s been 34 years since the war has happened;
Yet these minefields still exist somewhere in his mind;
I think his parents may have forgotten;
He wasn’t a commander, he was just a child.

Nothing made me angrier than when
You expected the best from me and I
Felt like it was unfair, and I couldn’t do
What everyone else could, that I didn’t
Have the tools, that this was a race but
I was positioned behind the
Starting line.

I thought you didn’t understand.

And you didn’t.

But you pushed me farther than I thought
I could go, you told me that I could do it—
That I had to.
You held me to that same gold standard,
On the bad days and the good days and
The days in between, you never wavered
And you never gave me the option to
Quit.

So I ran that race, and I ran it fast
I sprinted and leaped and speeded past
Everyone else, despite where I started,
And all I could feel was the rush in the air,
The breath in my veins and the wind in my hair,
The power of my stride, the power of my will,
The strength of my wholeness, this strength I could feel,
And every time, I thought I could not do it.

You did not know my pain—
Yet you pushed me right through it.

I look at my parents and find them so simple hearted,
Yearning for nothing more; but significance.
Time slows down in their company and heart takes the lead.
I find myself confused in emotions of pity and regret for I know there is only this much time I have with them and there is so much more I want to do with them.

Raised by a pair of dragons
Dodging their huffs and puffs of smoke and fire
And if I accidentally step on their tail
I'll burn on my own fiery pyre

And I watch the others with their parents of rabbits
While I'm here, trying not to be burnt
And while I dodge these flames once more
I think about what could've been, was or weren't.