Just Trying to Make Sense of It All

I long to be close

I love my daughter dearly
More than words can say
I think about her often
Every single day

But I wish that she would understand
That when I disagree
With what she says, or what she does
It’s just because I’m me

It doesn’t mean I love her less
Or could ever love her more
But I can’t agree, just to keep the peace
Or fight, just to even the score

I wish she knew that best advice
Is all I try to give
Some guidelines to help her through her life
To teach her how to live

To try to make her understand
About respect for all
But when I try to tell her
My words just hit a wall

I guess I am not young enough
To be as wise as she
For she is always in the right
The wrong is left for me

I see it sometimes in her eyes
When she knows that I am right
But rather than admit it
She’d prefer to stand and fight

One day when she’s older
I hope that she will see
The gulf that lies between us
Was not dug by me

I wish that I could bridge that gap
And that she could understand
Just how much I love her and
This distance was not planned

My words are always meant to help
Not drive us far apart
And although I know we are not close
There’s no distance in my heart

Same World Different Rules

I heard a child cry bitterly
Because MacDonalds was closed
Another child just sat and stared
Because no water flowed
The first child will move on with life
Despite his row and fuss
The second child will not be here
To sit and talk with us

There is no difference between them
They are both just the same
Just two small boys
Beginning their lives
Free from guilt or blame
One is not a wise child
Or the other one a fool
All that makes them different
Is same world different rules

Who you are and where you’re born
Is just a thing of chance
In Africa or Scotland
In England or in France
Life is just a lottery
But the stakes are often high
Just the place that you are born
Can be why you live or die
Or if you get an education
Or don’t even have a school
It’s just a matter of location
Same world different rules

Some have everything they want
Not just everything they need
Their life’s not ruled by choices
It’s only ruled by greed
Some don’t have any food to eat
Or clothes to keep them warm
Or a roof above their head
To shelter from the storm
So let me prick OUR conscience
And ask why we all don’t give
It should not be that you could die
Just because of where you live.

So why should some have NOTHING
While others buy expensive jewels
We should be in this together
Not same world different rules

Suddenly It Just Makes Sense

I sat and relaxed in the garden
On an April afternoon
The bright spring grass just sparkled
The blossom was starting to bloom

I watched as my beautiful daughter
Played with her beautiful boy
They laughed as they looked at the bushes
The Spring leaves had just turned into toys

Jack plucked one and looked at me proudly
He had never picked a leaf before
And suddenly then it just struck me
That this is what life is for

To see them together and happy
Made my life seem so worthy and full
And everything else that I’ve strived for
Suddenly seemed quite dull

The love in their eyes shone so brightly
For each other, and also for me
As he toddled the length of the garden
With the leaf, just so that I could see

It was just a leaf from a baby
But to me it was worth more than gold
A gift of priceless enlightenment
That could never be bought or sold

And in those few precious moments
My life just fell into place
The reason that I have existed
Shone in my grandsons face