(For Etienne Walden, my Granddaughter)
Educe the sweet and kinder truths in life,
That you may taste of joys the Angels know.
Infuse your being with beauty, lest man’s strife
Efface the blooms in gardens where you go.
Never display your beauty just for show.
Never ignore another’s grief or pain.
Effuse compassion on life’s lonely moor.
Just as deserts can bloom, despite the rain,
A meager purse * if shared * can aid the poor.
Never chase need or hunger from your door!
Each soul is born to bloom! Some cease to care,
Letting their actions spawn the wounds that hurt,
Leaving some blooming souls in deep despair *
Enclosing their own souls in piles of dirt.
Why should you let such souls impose? Be curt!
Accumulate life’s purest Threads of Gold.
Let love and duty dwell both in your soul.
Don’t give in to despair! Don’t leave the fold,
Eluding paths to lustre in Life’s role.
Nothing should be, that will not leave you whole.
05/25/1995
