Stop The Parent Clones

Give your children freedom
Bequeath them autonomy
Encourage them to be themselves
And not a mini-me

For a parents job is not there to
Manipulate the mind
More so help children forge their own
Identity in kind

To help them grow their own ideas
Speak words that they alone
Have crafted independently
Not as a parent clone

And then our children will achieve
A sense of who THEY are
People in their own right who shine
Light from their own blessed star

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The Gift of Free Will

An evil witch crept up one day
Upon a small dear boy
To steal from him his treasured prize
His gift, his skill, his toy

She came with wart upon her nose
With hat so very black
With gruesome cackle, broomstick bright
With lies, deceit a-whack

But in disguise she masked herself
All dressed in robes to trust
With academic gown and cap
A position so robust

She prepped a cauldron of despair
Lost hope the spell she cast
And in the place of frogs and snails
She cooked a spell to last

She spoke of expectations
She told the boy what she
Thought he should do, what he should think
She zapped autonomy

She added in incentives
Of rewards’ compliant pill
She threatened hurt and punishment
If he failed to bid her will

She ransomed him with sweeties
Then blackmailed him with her curse
To act just as she wanted him
With smiles but rather terse

And then when he’d submitted
She vanished out of sight
To leave the small child quite confused
His life without a light

His heart so wrenched and sold out
To the witch who stole his prize
The gift of independence and free will
Consumed by her disguise

This poem reflects on a year when reports of adults abusing their position to obtain control over young impressionable children seems to have been quite prevalent.  From the teacher running off to France with one of his pupil’s to parent’s abusing, in some cases even murdering, their own children, we live in a world where those that have a duty of care over our children often abuse their position.  The end result is never a happy one and can happen to any child, so if there’s one thing we can all try and wrap up this Christmas, I pray it will be the gift of autonomy and free will for our children, and in giving them that undertake to move into 2014 nurturing this gift in their lives so that their outcomes honour their expectations and aspirations and not anyone else’s.

We should point out that none of these poems are about a specific individual or identify anyone in particular  (click here for full disclaimer)

Independent Love

Love respects and honours
It understands and cares
It steps back and offers freedom
And extends a hand of care

It listens with an open heart
Does not defend or shout
Or control or cling in any way
Nor forget what you’re about

Rejoicing in spontaneity
If feeds on openness
Encouraging free thinkers
To share a life more blessed

It turns its back on toxins
That paralyse and crush
For love seeks not approval
Nor through mental edits rush

In strength it raises individuals
Uplifts autonomy
To nurture self-reliance
With strong bonds so lovingly

For love thrives on independence
As dependent it might be
To instil rich equilibriums
That breed longevity

 

Conformity’s Mist

Oh the world so likes those who comply
Who say and do the right thing
Those who happily tow the party line
Or read from the same song sheet to sing

She promotes people who knuckle under
Or sit quietly in long listless rows
Cherishing those who happily sign on the line
Without threat to equilibrium pose

And those who accept red tape and bureaucracy
Are often exalted high over the rest
For the fact that they ask no questions
Gives them an A* in conforming at best

But the question that is mostly apparent
Is whether it’s really better this way?
Is it right that we’re encouraged to follow the crowd?
Institutionalised to stop us going astray?

Astray on a quest of pure knowledge
To a place where choices exit
Where we can think or debate or inquire once again
And live without conformity’s mist.