A Progeny’s Shield
Many of us carry wounds from adolescence long after we’ve grown up. A Progeny’s Shield is a poem about the cycles we inherit and the quiet but powerful choice to give the next generation what we never received.
I see the shadows in your eyes,
the questions you don’t yet speak,
the way your heart leans toward belonging,
even when the path feels cold and unclear.
Chasing acceptance like passing wind,
numbing toxins,
speeding without lights.
A battle fought in grown-up spaces,
born from adolescent storms.
Wrapped in a parent’s mantle,
guiding the light of offspring
through fractured glass
of adolescent plight.
Remove scars where we can,
leading with hands of experience,
eyes of hope,
mouth of wisdom,
a progeny’s shield.
Weigh words with compassion,
deliver them with love,
sketch a new horizon,
to an adolescence reborn.
Healing doesn’t always begin with yourself. Sometimes it begins the moment you look into a child’s eyes and decide the cycle ends here.
