Home Fires

The little people in your life can make or break you plans
Will spin your world out of control and speed up life's pouring sands
So many broken toys and cups, too many ruined clothes
So many stains to scrub away, and the daily runny nose

And when our kids have fallen down, and grazed their leg again
We wrap a plaster on the wound and patiently do mend
When tiny scratch seems to them a gashing gushing wound
We bind it tight and

On winter days when faces red peer in the window pane
We greet them at the chilly door
We sit them down and rub their hands and place them by the fire
And towel them dry and wipe their caked up boots of mire

When callous friend or bully has hurt their little heart
We hold them close and reasure and tell them
And on those dark and stormy nights, when ghosts seem in the wind
We sit and sing or story-tell until their dreams begin

For you dear mums and dads alike, their needs are always first
And for many manic years, your own needs seem accursed  
And there may be days when you are tired, and broken by the storm
When you may regret the tribulation, that came when they were born

But parents heed my warning and act while they're still small
Don't take their joys for granted, their tears, their fears, their falls
For one day when they encounter life and make the big mistakes
They may not let you guide them, and your wisdom may forsake  

For they will love some villains, and they will hate your law
In a moment of youthful madness, misery crouches at their door
And you will not be the one that they will listen to
But celebrities and web decrees will be their go-to

Then you will have to witness the breaking of their souls
The confusion and the anger,  that comes with empty goals
No longer able to lead them, or swoop them from the floor
And shield them from their folly, and life's unfair encore

And you will wish for snowy boots and muddy prints on floors
The sound of broken crockery, the banging of the door
And you will yearn to kiss their knee and wrap them in your arms
To soothe their cuts and bruises, and and comfort their alarm

But through their trials and sorrows, be patient and still there
For you will still be needed, will have a chance to care
And when the world is done with them, and they begin to see
The things of most importance and the things that set us free

You can gently soothe their scars, and wipe their weary feet
And put a plaster on their broken heart, and kiss their stinging cheek
And take their hand so frozen by this world so cold and harsh
And warm them with your words of love, and the fire in your heart