A System of the World.

(A poem inspired by the process of talking with my three year daughter, and realizing my idiosyncracies and hers will be different.)

You must make a system of the world.

I’ll bring the yarn, twisted and red.

You bring the questions sharp as thumbtacks.

I will help you make your board.

I have a board,

(of course I do.)

We all have them.

I will show you bits of mine

Which you will not understand;

But you will form yours,

tack by tack,

And link them string by string.

You will copy mine,

But get things wrong;

I will judge yours

And say it is not right,

And miss true things I do not know.

We have different eyes,

(of course we do)

We all have them.

I’ll see your life through mine

But I will not understand.

How do we get so off track?

Clearly we will need

More questions

And miles of yarn.