In Control

There are two days each year that
make me sit back in wonder
at this gift we call Life
at how much we think
we are in control
and how much control we have to have
with the knowledge
that we are not

I walk on the beach in the morning
families are scattered
children at the edge of the water
digging holes to build mounds
moms lurking on the lookout
to protect their precious cargo
from strangers, beasts of prey,
or ripped and wayward waves

We think - I'm in control
nothing can happen
no bad man can take him
no hurt can happen under
my eagle eye protection and control
Wake up! I want to scream
You think it can be as easy as that?
You can't protect your child
from broken promises
or a broken heart
Your every element of protection
is wasted when you wake up one day
and your child has become
somehow different than the other
children you know
a father has left him
he looks different or speaks different
or he wakes up one day and is
diagnosed with a lifetime disease
manageable yes, but broken none-the-less

We think that control is how
we get through life
and perhaps it is true,
just not the way we think it is
There are two days each year
that make me sit back and wonder
On those two days I can sit back and reflect
or walk the beach and smile at the
lurking moms and signal to them
that their children are as
precious as they think
And nod with them because
we know that
the control we seek is futile
that no amount of supermom protection
will save our children
from the lives they have to live
and that the only control we really own
is the control we have over the way
we respond

Blessings.
- Darshan

(c) 2009 Darshan F Jessop