Our Children Are A Legacy

Story ID:	3863
Written by:	JANET KESSLER POLUDNIAK (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Organization:	JUST ME
Story type:	Poem
Location:	Ithaca NY USA
Year:	2006
Person:	Families with children

Our Children Are A Legacy
©2004, Janet K. Poludniak

Parents who are separated
by life's problems—irritated,
and use their children just to scheme
make me want to yell and scream!
Children are a gift of life
and not the means to settle strife.

One problem I would haste to mention:
a child's more than a tax exemption!
Children are not a parental ploy;
they're an innocent little girl or boy.
They need to feel loved and secure!
They need to know love will endure!

Parents who fight and use a child
are very seldom meek or mild.
The terrible damage these things do
take years to heal! I know it's true.
What a difference love can make,
especially to young lives at stake.

When struggling parents do their best,
fully succeeding at every test,
the children—still caught in between—
must deal with pain that can't be seen.
I hope that all folks will agree,
our children are a legacy!