WHAT'S THIS LIFE FOR


if not to leave our beauty mark on this earth
vibrant hues of reds
verdant greens
against its drab, brown berth

the chance to offer a few consoling words
some warm hugs to a friend
a nugget of wisdom
a soul to drive the wind

a second to create some music
to be sung for all eternity
a moment to weave some words
read by this and that posterity

for our life to give life to a life
conceived in love
delivered in pain
nurtured in hope

to take those hands and guide its sight
to touch those lips and implore them speak
to swamp those ears with the hum of life
to clutch that heart, an off'ring to its soul

to bring it to the road it will walk
a journey all its own
and clasp our hands in prayer
that we've given enough, done the best we've known

so that one day it, too, will give life to a life
conceived in love
delivered in pain
nurtured in hope

then we can sit back and enjoy the view
for we've done what we're destined to do
we've set another life to soar
and cover its own heights and scope

life is not to seize some greatness
for greatness can be taken away
from us, or we from it
certainly not to obtain treasures
if treasure is but a weight of gold

but greatness it will be
and worth more than all the gold
if in our wake we leave
avowals of poignant love

- for you Daddy, with all my love