From a child's eyes
To a child's heart.
Impressions lasting
First one's the start.

Young and innocent
Even more pure.
The smile to a bad day
Sometimes the cure.

An empty vessel
To fill and to mold.
A respectable child
Does as they're told.

Taught right from wrong
Morals are planted.
Posture is straight
Not crooked and slanted.

Religion is introduced
Traditions hallowed out.
Expectations set
No time to doubt.

Captured over time
In the parent's planned future.
Trust earned and lost
Disappointments need suture.

What happens when that child
No longer hears praise?
Repeated in their head
"This is not how you were raised."

When conflict of interest
And what's stood for changes.
When a child's soul is not
Resistant to the turning of ages.

Product of their environment
It's not just what's taught.
It's every lie and hardship
That they've ever bought.

The bruises the tears
For some the neglect.
Do they become the examples
We all forget?