Countdown / Launching

Two poems for Andrew, whose birthday is today, and who leaves for a West Coast internship next week.  Godspeed, Andrew! 


Countdown

I know exactly what to do, my son.
I've lived life and I want to say
I think I've learned a thing or two
Along the way.  I look at you
And see a little of myself.
I know exactly what to do.

But I don't know what to say, my son
To get you going on your way
Without the struggles I once knew
And know today.  I look at you
And stumble over all my words.
I don't know what to say.

It's easy to say, do as I say,
And harder to say, not as I do,
But hardest of all is to know what to do
But not how to say it to you.

19 is a brave new world...
California is hours away...
A place of your own is a sudden adventure...
The life you live is yours to discover...

I wish I could be brave for you, my son,
And present, not so far away.
I don’t know what to say to you
But I will always pray for you
(These are the best words I can give)
That you will find your way.



Launching.

Launching is what we do to rockets when
we send them up into the sky, or to boats
when we free them of their moorings.

A rocket is what you are when you have
the fuel to burn, and you set off into the
unknown like a ship at sea.

The sky is the world around you with a
sea of possibilities.  Desire is your fuel
and best intentions set you free.

I am not your rocket and I don't have the
fuel and I can't make the sky be what you
want it to be.

But I am here to cut the ropes and send
you on your way.  And someday you will
smile when you think of me.