Beautiful Boy

Photo by Milos Lopusina on Unsplash

You were made
from me -
from the minutiae of me
you became,
from within me.

Yet you are not me

And I cannot be you.
I cannot and will not
will you to be
what I would have
you be.

I cannot keep you
safe,
make you live
one way
or another.

I cannot stop you running
over the edge,
if that is where
you need to go.

No

I cannot clip your wings,
shield you from the things
I know
so many poisons, smiling thieves,
lies, stealthy disappointment and slow

near fatal blows.

But I cannot hold you
high up
on our little ledge
away from life’s mess.

I must let you dive down
into it all,
maybe drown
in it, maybe become it