It’s National Poetry Day, for once it’s the actual day for this country so I’m not just using another nation’s day as an excuse. I wasn’t intending to write a poem, but this almost came out spontaneously as a response to an email, so I thought I’d better scrub it, put it here and reply more sensibly. I’m not saying this is the definitive guide to child-rearing, incidentally. Just a facet of how I see it.

You can’t herd a child
Into the pen you built,
Adult-shaped and rigid.

They will break their collar
And run with the dog
Unafraid of the bites.

All the cries in the world
Will not bring them round
Though you whistle till lungs-burst.

So let them roam, explore
And be their shepherd,
To keep them from the wolves.