for my daughter
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Seventeen years you have been with me.
I’ve tried to protect you from harm
And prepare you with knowledge and skills
And a moral compass to guide you.
And here you are, such an excellent person,
Smart but not arrogant about your brainpower,
Sympathetic about the difficulties of those around you,
Happy to have fun with your friends and enjoy being alive.
The hypocrite adults all say: “Do what I say, not what I do.”
So I have tried to teach by example.
But the example of my life is a checkered record at best,
So take what you like and leave the rest.
I hope that you have what you need most by now.
I don’t take the credit for who you are
Though others compliment me upon meeting you.
I hope that misfortune mostly passes you by.
This year the world will change for you on your birthday.
This is the day you will get your driver’s license.
No more will you be under my wing going here and there.
You’ll be an adult in the eyes of the DMV.
I remember the delight of mobility first gained in my youth.
Now I’ll be free of the driver duties for you, do you think?
Not! Really it will be a loss of something I enjoyed,
But you’ll begin to get the feeling of not depending on others.
In that way adult means being independent and self-sufficient.
Of course I hope you always need me and seek me out as an advisor,
But most of all I wish for you to surpass me totally
In what you know and what you accomplish.
