Sunday, May 20, 2012

Grandparents


This is an older poem that first appeared online here.  I've altered a couple of words.  (Please note, the first part is tongue-in-cheek, something that wasn't recognised when it was first published.)

Grandparents are best kept in separate houses.
Each pair thinks their mutual grandchild is theirs
And theirs alone. 

Sharing is a no-no, and the thought that others have
Input on a grandparent level is
Disturbing, to say the least.

It’s a strange thing that we two grandparents
Can give our whole hearts to our grandchildren
And yet, four other sets of grandparents
Have also given their whole hearts away.
Why aren’t the grandchildren
Swamped with all that love? 
Wouldn’t you think that the parents’ love,
And the paternal grandparents’ love,
And the maternal grandparents’ love,
And, in at least one case,
The great-grandparent’s love
Would be like a huge enveloping balloon,
A blimp full of love that made it hard to breathe?
Apparently not.
With childlike ease the grandchildren
Absorb it all and have room for more.

Phew!  Love like a whole world.
Phew!  Love like the universe expanding.
Phew!  Love as broad as eternity.

It’s just as well for grandparents to stay
Separate.
Otherwise the rest of the world might begin to
Soak up all that love and set itself alight.

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