# Mum & dad poem - an antidote.



## Capt Lightning (Sep 6, 2016)

I'm very cynical at times and if I could turn back the clock,  I think I'd choose my parents more carefully !  But... perhaps they thought much the same about their parents?

This poem, I think, largely sums it up......  

[h=2]'This be the verse'[/h] They f*** you up, your mum and dad. 
They may not mean to, but they do. 
They fill you with the faults they had 
And add some extra, just for you. 

But they were f***ed up in their turn 
By fools in old-style hats and coats, 
Who half the time were soppy-stern 
And half at one another's throats. 

Man hands on misery to man. 
It deepens like a coastal shelf. 
Get out as early as you can, 
And don't have any kids yourself.

Philip Larkin


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## NancyNGA (Sep 10, 2016)

On Expecting Perfection

While parents pass good traits to you,
They often pass some bad ones too.
Don't use the bad to rationalize
Occasions when you were unwise.

Spend some time rethinking things.     
What made them lodge some hurtful stings?
If you could travel in their shoes,
Would that explain, clear up, excuse?

Things _might_  have been much better then
If only you had done this when
Some careless words or circumstance
Was viewed by them as arrogance.

Why, then, did you not connect?
You lacked the wisdom to detect
One pesky thing they passed along---  
Belief that they could not be wrong.

Who were those who came and stole
The one they always could control.
They knew you would end up estranged.
They didn't see you had not changed.

The good they passed was honesty.
Trustworthiness? Integrity?
The fact you chose a different route,
To them, just cancelled those things out.

Correct the bad, retain the good.
Assume you _all_ misunderstood.
Hope they didn't hold a grudge,
And think you were the one to judge.

No use to dwell upon the past.
Go there at times, but get out fast.
Learn from it, and then move on.
Do the laundry. Mow the lawn.

-anonymous


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