filed in Daily Life
You Could Make This Place Beautiful
Poem by Maggie Smith
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8 comments for “You Could Make This Place Beautiful”
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Apparently I can never have children, my outlook on life is not a hopeful one.
Leyla, I didn’t read the poem that way. “The children” part barely registered even though it was so central. I shrugged it off as a metaphor.
I read it as metaphorical as well. I have a friend who doesn’t have children. When he puts dinner on the table for friends, he calls out, “Come children time to gather for dinner”. And we all hustle over to the table eager for his wonderful food and companionship. It doesn’t feel patronizing. Instead it casts a net of warmth welcoming us.
I see children are a metaphor for the future
Love this. And for me the reference to children hardly registered either (I was more concerned about the bird with the stone thrown at it). I feel overly aware of the world being ‘at least half terrible’ and somehow this injects a ray of hope.
I have a number of friends who are a generation younger than me. Even though I don’t have my own children, I’m fine with stepping into the sage role, when it’s appropriate. It feels good to have hard-earned life experience to share.
I work with children, and with people who work with children, and I love this.
I love that you work with children!