For one of my last posts, I’d like to share with you one of my favorite poems about children. My friend Mindy Larson, who I met during my first teaching job in Rockport, always started the year with this poem. However, I think it is also fitting for the end.
I hope you enjoy it too.
I See Children As Kites
You spend a lifetime
Trying to get them off the ground.
You run with them
Until you are breathless.
They crash, they hit rooftops.
You patch and comfort,
And adjust and they’ll fly.
Finally, they are airborne.
They may need more string
And you keep letting it out.
But with each twist of the ball of twine,
There is a sadness that goes with joy.
The kite becomes more distant,
And you know it won’t be long
Before that beautiful treasure will begin
To separate from the lifeline
that binds you together.
And your child will soar as a kite soars…
Free and alone.
And you know you have done your job.