I See Children As Kites

'I see children as kites— 
it takes a lifetime trying to get them off the ground.
You run with them until
 both breathless,
you crash.
You add a larger tail,
They hit rooftops, entangle in trees.
You pluck them out of the mud,
You patch and mend, adjust and secure
knots of twine close to your side.
You watch them lifted by the wind
assuring them they'll fly.
Finally, airborne, you find
 they need more string
 and you keep letting it out.
With each twist of the spindle,the kite becomes more distant.
And somehow you know that it won't be long
Before the chord will severe
the umbilical that once bound
you together;
soaring free and alone.
and as the wind gusts
pushing the kite further and further
up towards the clouds
Only then can you know
you did your job.
~Erma L. Bombeck
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