p. 52
On Children 
K A H L
I L
 G
I B
R A N
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.
Tatum House, 1977

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