Parents

We carry the weight of our children:
their joys, their tears.
We fear every day for their lives.

Early deaths lie heavy,
but life, an elastic fabric that absorbs
most change,

accepts the strain
of grandchildren, nephews and nieces,
and erases stains.

The hole parents leave when departing
is at once sealed up,
the scars eventually paved over.

So we think parents rule no more.
But they do. They do.