I know the things you think

And feel and try to hide

Even from yourself.

I understand the things

You tend to embrace

And why many others

You have set upon a shelf.

I know the fears from which

You run and try

to convince yourself

Are not really there.

I know the battles you fight,

I see the ones you lose.

I hear your sigh of defeat,

Your mumbles of “I don’t care.”

I see the path of people

You have left behind;

The ones you deemed not worthy;

And those who weren’t so kind.

I understand why you left them;

The pain and anger were too much,

But don’t worry about them;

I’ve kept them all within my touch.

Now, I see you with a harvest of years

Memories of laughter; gallons of tears.

All along the way,

I have watched you run, leap

And sometimes fall.

I have heard your shouts of victory

Have seen you battered and bruised

Up against some stone wall.

Oh, Child, your life has been

A series of failures

Balanced with a series of wins.

Did you know that when you fell

I picked you up

For you to start again?

Now you sit and ponder

These dips and peaks,

The frustration of it all

So much more than you can speak.

You wonder why the rebellion came;

You wonder the inability

To defeat the shame.

You relish the words

“To thine ownself be true.”

And you finally know that’s

Not always possible to do.

You have made efforts

to express yourself

The very best you could,

Because like all my children,

You have wanted to be understood,

Accepted, respected;

It’s been your greatest desire

Since your life began.

And through all these endeavors

To be received by the host of men,

You have never seen or sensed

That the greatest of approvals

At your birth had commenced

When I chose you to be one of mine

For all of eternity, you would be

In my chosen, royal bloodline.

So, Little One, scurry through

The years left to you;

From your viewpoint

You have much to do.

But as you struggle, strive

And stress; remember that

In it all, you are greatly blessed.