Poems & Selections

On Children

By Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Fill not your hearts with pain and sorrow, but remember me in every tomorrow.Remember the sky, the laughter, the smiles, I’ve only gone to rest a while. Although my leaving causes pain and grief, my going has eased my hurt and given me relief!So dry your eyes and remember me. Not as I am now, […]
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Since it falls unto my lot, That I should rise and you should not, I’ll gently rise, and I’ll softly call, “Good night and joy be with you all.”