Has instant gratification
Been the ruination
Of an entire generation?
Did meeting this need but foment
A strong sense of entitlement
Much to our children's detriment?
How many have not grown to learn
That what one wants, what one might yearn
One has to work for; has to earn?
When this poison seed we have sown
And nurtured becomes fully grown,
The blame is ours and ours alone!

Donning the mantle of godparent
cannot be blamed on an accident
it is both a gift and a choice
in which the child has no voice.

If it is a decision lightly taken
the deciders should awaken
to the burden it imposes
and the thorns of the roses.

An honor to the invited it might seem
but think about what it means
to the parents of that baby
and how vital to them it may be.

For if this is to be your child
it will not be for just a while
but for a lifetime of growth and pains
a multitude of joys and strains.

In a manner quite distinct
you are asked to be linked
to this person in the ups and downs
to hear both tender and awful sounds.

And think of where you may wander
in your journey out yonder
how your beliefs might alter
and your path might falter.

Wherever you go whatever you do
know this person is joined to you
through your good and bad breaks
with all your missteps and mistakes.

And above all remember you are kin.
You don’t lose.  You don’t win.
You are never never exiled
from Love, for you are both God’s child.

Forgive yourself and fellows,
When footing has been lost;
One's fall from grace is torment,
The second has a cost;
Of flesh and blood you still remain,
Yet own your every err;
Accept the past you cannot change,
Confess that you were there;
Set right the things that tend to slip
Post-stumble, fall, or break;
Mend the wounds with loving hands,
That none are left to ache;
Lucid men are forged in fire,
Adepts are those who learn --
Without trial, sans blunder,
Success is not of our concern;
Decay takes to dusty wings,
But is down truly ever out?
Arise, for failure comes to those,
Only those, who sit and lie in doubt;
Forthward.

I spent all night attempting to take
Care of you even after you said
I was needy, I stayed awake
Sober while I put you to bed.

I covered you in blankets we shared
Wiped puke off of your face
I did not mind having to stay there
(Boots weren't that hard to unlace)

Helping makes me feel good
If I was the one passed out by two
I know without doubt you would
Take care of me the same way too

polemics flies
and lands messily
on both sides

the drone of speech
and rhetoric
never worth the while

what use is this discord
when we refuse to shoulder

part of our weight in
pushing the titan's boulder?

This time it's not the sadness that's keeping me awake at night
But it's the responsibility I have to face in the morning