The Gate

When it opened and you were free
it shook the very soul of me
Each sound you made outside the zone
left me screaming all alone

I used the gate to keep you in
and keep you safe and sound and then
you grew too big, you learned to scale
and you'd climb so fast it never failed

I removed the gate and watched you tumble
heart in mouth, ever so humble
as you picked youself up and dusted off
and climbed again, to land so soft

and still each time I see you climb
my heart stands still, it stops in time
I've shown you how but you do it different
you scare me with your independance

I can't let go, I'm scared for you
but there isn't anything I can do
I'm helpless against the hands of time
it's hard to know you weren't ever mine

Love doesn't let me run away
yet it breaks my heart in two to stay
I hope some day you'll appreciate
how much it hurt to remove that gate.


As your children grow, your life is a series of taking down gates, removing barriers and letting go. It's a rip in your heart every single time because it's inevitable they fall. You just hope they've learned how to land and how to dust themselves off and try again. You not only have to trust that they can do it, you have to trust in your own ability to let them go over and over again.