Childhood Revisited
Of life’s best pleasures I can think of none
Comparable to that which came to me
When sharing the developmental growth
To adulthood of my own children’s lives.
It was not possible in my career
Always to give time to my family,
But when the opportunities arose
I tried to be fit father for my sons.
Then I was able, hindsighted, to see
Myself as once I was, (father in sons
Regenerate), before I grew aware
Of what I did, or why I acted so.
For, with my man-brained eyes, I saw the ways
In which responses to strong stimuli
Were bonded to subconscious thoughts. I learned
Again those facts which made me what I am.
Though much perplexed by life’s bewildering
Confusions of pleasures and tragedies
I recalled, through my sons, how hard it was
To build a platform for security.
So frequently I talked with them, to give
Advice, and also to receive from them
Fresh insights into problems I had thought
Past resolution in my own affairs.
And we played games which taught them rules-of-thumb,
Based on my own varied experience,
To help them understand their hopes and fears
And how sustain a firm resilience.
So as I helped them to stand up again,
After each latest knock-down blow of fate,
I praised them for their undiminished dreams
And felt anew my youth’s determindness.
It was the greatest pleasure of my days
And finest education I could have,
Sharing my children’s growing lives; living
Once more my childhood in their company.
