Carefully we construct
security for offspring –
add luxuries to entertain
accommodate growth
play host to revolving-
door friends and dates.
And yet, we are graded
on performance – met
or unmet expectations –
held up against a stack
of other super parents,
silhouettes of perfection.
Still, we celebrate goals,
sprouting family, ignore
the slanders, and ease
into age with a tad of kook,
or wild inappropriateness –
all expressions of our love.
(First edition of this poem appeared Feb/’18. Image from personal collection. Submitted for Reena’s Exploration challenge, choosing the prompt: silhouette.)
Very beautifully expressed. Excellent take.
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Thanks Indira
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My pleasure, dear.
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Beautifully penned! Resonates so well…
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Thanks
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Reblogged this on Reena Saxena and commented:
Parental Passages ….. by VJ Knutson
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You express beautifully how we keep moving ahead, despite obstacles and wounded feelings.
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Yes. Thanks Reena.
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Wild inappropriateness! Yes of course!!🤣
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Lol. Thanks.
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The last stanza reminded me very much of my daughter, who often remarks to me, “You’re goofy, Mom.”
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Ha ha. My son says I just get cuter with age, my daughters fear ‘my wild’.
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😀
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I managed to miss these passages V.J. my life went down a different corridor…
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Yes, we don’t all take the same path for sure.
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You have such an eloquent way with words. 💗
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Thanks so much.
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