The sentiment that "nothing prepares you for parenthood" continues to apply no matter how old my boys are. The leaving process of my son, Taylor, from home to college was such a momentous mixture of feelings. Mostly, I was so excited about his leaving, off to adventures--college, a career he is passionate about...it is exactly what he should be doing. Yet, there is a soft strain of sadness, too. As a poet, though, I feel I am particularly fortunate to be able to "work" these things out with words. This poem is one I wrote many years ago, as I watched one young mother and her child at what was most likely the child's first swimming lesson. The letting go begins.
SWIM LESSONS, McKINLEY PARK
At the pool
the young mother in the straw hat
follows along the edge,
the land,
watching her tadpole child in the water.
Every muscle in the mother’s dry body
swims as her child paddles across the surface,
not drowning. She can’t keep her hands
from stretching out. She moves
her feet along the edge,
dancing a pas de deux of terror
and isolation.
--Catherine Fraga
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Yes, kids are growing up way to fast. The pic reminds me of that Nirvana Album, Nevermind, and the song "Smells like teen spirit" >:)
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven