my children are growing away.
it is not so much an "up".

and i want to run after the leaving -
though they are right here beside me -
to ask them to stay
please stay       don't go.

but they are curious in their growing away -
this becoming of gentlemen -
so that sometimes i must step aside also
to catch a glimpse of their newness
from a distance.

i witness them then - 
these young people in my children's bodies -
carving out legacies they didn't ask for help on -
calculating equations,
cracking jokes,
making men.