Ready To Do It All Over Again

He was middle aged,
Single and free,
Used to living alone
And taking care of himself,
But deep down
He had never forgotten
How much he enjoyed
Having someone
To share his life with
And care for him.
Besides, he liked being a father
And missed having
A wife and kids around.
His wife had passed away
A long time ago,
And his children
Were grown up and
Had children of their own
And were living far, far away.
I think he thirsted for
The intellectual stimulation
Of the conversations
He used to have
With those kids
As they were growing up.
They grew like weeds,
On a dietary mix of philosophy
And psychology,
Science and engineering,
Combined with
Practical wisdom
And simple common sense.
Maybe he had come
To the conclusion
That life was not meant
To be lived alone,
For when she showed up
And seemed to be
Emotionally available,
He was ready
To do it all over again.
He didn’t know if he had
Done it right the first time,
He just did the best he could,
And things kind of worked out.
He may have made
Any number of mistakes
Raising those kids,
And I suppose there are
A few things he would
Prefer to do differently
If he had to do it
All over again.
One thing he learned
Is that it is a lottery of sorts
How the kids turn out.
It’s part genetics,
Part parenting,
A good bit of luck
And a ton of retribution
For all the things
He did as a child.
Nonetheless,
He was ready.

The Fires of Youth

With an amused smile,
I watch their frantic folly,
Reminiscent of my own
So many years ago.
University students,
Young, single and free
Full of angst about the future,
Concerned about
Landing a job,
And covertly focused
On finding a mate.
They sit there in class,
Boy, almost man,
Girl, almost woman,
Desperately seeking
Each other,
Yet though they sit
Opposite one another,
They seem oblivious
To the possibility
Each could be
For the other.