On You, Across The Table

We all want to believe our children will love us
Hold us, kiss us, stay with us,
and wrap their little hands around our fingers
Big eyes watch big people with big love

But they're a squirmy type
Run away, out of our arms
No matter how far we stretch

Exploring dust bunnies in corners
Carrying shoes to bury in the sand box
They all, will all, run away

And you see then,
Perhaps they are not yours.

Individuals behind those big eyes
And we, again, are left to watch
Like past loves left,
Mother, fathers, gone,
And a thousand friends,
drifted away

We own no one,
Our children owe nothing
And we will all realize how little we are
How alone we are

And in that we must find some happiness
We must find some truth
For them, for us,
For you

Reviews

[Nathan Strange]

Hey man, Charles, I've never read much of your stuff and I'm not gonna blow sunshine up your arse as you are the owner of the website. Let me tell you something pal, this is f*****g good mate. It sums up how I feel at the moment! I'm just sitting in front of my computer screen waiting for the computer to speak to me, waiting for reviews. I'm too tired to review at the moment, I can't think let alone read!
I have a beer in front of me sitting by the keyboard. My forehead is creased up, my eyes black, yet I sit here endlessly, waiting for inspiration to write something. I have this dying urge to want to produce just something, even if it's tedious, yet I know that I'm in no state of mind to write anything half decent.
I saw you were on line and thought, let me read something of Charles's for once. He is responsible for this site. Well man your words spoke to me, that last stanza;

Unable to maintain this moment
This connection
This intimacy
Required to record it
Such is the curse of a writer

[Jen Marks]

This was a very emotional and true poem for me.
I can only immagine how things will be, since I am just 16.
Nonetheless, I really loved the last two stanzas.
They sounded so professional, and deep; from the heart.
Well done, man. This was a beautiful work.

youtube.com/kneecaplollipop
myspace.com/jenmarks

♥Jen Marks

[BABSIE BEE]

It's true..we own no one, yet we feel as if we do with our children, well until a reasonable age, when we think we can let go, but in actual fact.....we NEVER do. This is very inspirational and I like it so very much. One could get a little sad at reading this, but I prefer not to. I take the positive road every time. Thanks for the share.
Take care
Babsie Bee xx

[Tomás Ó C..]

We start life alone, then we have children for twenty short years, then they move on and we are alone again...

[JohnL]

What a variety is available to us in poetry - from the simple, comprehensible, uncomplicated - which we all can understand -such as this is, to the cryptic, puzzling, seemingly meaningless. Well tonight I am right in the mood for something like this which describes what every parent knows - or should know. That each child becomes more individual as time passes and will go:
May I pass this on to you - not my own but that of A.J.Cronin, a Sottish writer and poet of repute.

With the exact length and pace ofhis father's stride,
The son walks,
Echoes and intonations of his father's speech
Are heard when he talks.


Once when the table was tall,
and the chair a wood,
He absorbed his father's smile and carefully copied
The way he stood.

He grew into exile slowly,
With pride and remorse,
In some ways better than his begetters
In others worse.

And now having chosen with strangers,
Half glad of his choice,
He smiles with his father's hesitant smile
And speaks with his voice.

Anthony Cronin.

I just thought you might enjoy this,

JohnL

[Papercuts.Hate.You.Too]

Wow, I really like this one.It speaks the truth and gives people a reality cheak kinda(and im not trying to suck up just because your the owner of tis site).I look forward to reading more of your work and hope you will extange the favor by reading some of my work.
P.S.please dont jude me as a kid, please give me feed back as if you were a critic and I was a real book writer.
Sincerly,
Leylia

[Brandon]

man...this was an awesome write!

[Anita B Jacques]

So true, A grandmother of 8, I am. Some times you get too close it makes your heart ache, no matter what,
they do belong in your heart, some closer then others, but you have that special one, when distance stop
to exist, knowing you are in their heart also. Thank you for a great write, I love it. God Bless.

Anita

[Beatrice Boyle (Grandm..]

Charles...how true this is!

Our children are only on loan to us, for us to cherish, nourish, teach them...hopefully...to become well adjusted, productive members of society. We are their touchstone, teaching by example. Children are as a sponge, absorbing what they see and hear on a daily basis.

It is up to us as parents, to insure that we give them the best that we have to offer, and by the grace of God, we have given them the wings to fly, confident we have equipted them with values that they and we can be proud of.

Good job Charles!

Beatrice Boyle

[nostal]

Awesome. Are you the owner of this website?

[Jessica M.]

"we own no one"
if only more people would open up their minds to that phrase.
enjoyable and insightful.