CHILD OF MY CHILD

   For Rowan

Child of my child, I wish you well.

With every poem I strain to rhyme,

With music, in or out of time,

With every tale I have to tell,

             Child of my child, I wish you well….

In every place you set your feet,

On country path or city street,

Forest glade or moorland fell,

Child of my child, I wish you well.

Wherever you may lay your head,

In hammock or four-poster bed,

In hermit’s cave or citadel,

Child of my child, I wish you well.

Whatever dreams you may pursue,

One special wish I wish for you –

Not for beauty, glory, bliss,

Not for riches, but for this:

May you embrace and make your own

The greatest joy my life has known.

Somewhere, some day, let Fate allow

That you should stand, as I do now,

Trembling, as you feel so much

For the child that you touch –

‘Child of my child,’ I hear you say

On that distant, unknown day,

‘If you conform, shock, or rebel, 

Live quietly, or shake freedom’s bell,

Love peace, or charge the gates of Hell – 

With all within me, every cell,

Child of my child, I wish you well.’