2007 July - Children

Your children aren't your children.
They are sons and daughters
of the longing of life for itself. They come through you,
but not from you,
and even though they're with you,
they don't belong to you.
You may give them your love,
but not your thoughts,
because they have their own thoughts.
You may give their bodies a house,
but not their souls,
because their souls
live in the house of tomorrow,
which you can't visit,
not even in your dreams.
You may try to be like them,
but don't try to make them similar to yourself.
Because life doesn't go backwards,
nor does it rest in the yesterday.
You are bows,
your children are sent from
as living arrows.

Poem of Khalil Gibran
Translated by Regina E. (c) 2007