An Ardent Wish For Others

How ardently, now, I wish for others
what I –alas too late – wish –
would have wished – for my own self,
and maybe, for my parents too:

some time in life – it would depend on you –
but not too late, too late –

to sit down together –
each parent, each child, individually –
and maybe with a few days ‘thinking time’ beforehand –
and say – you could take this in turns –

‘Ask me all the questions
which you never, until now, thought to ask…
ask me all the questions
which you never liked or dared to ask…
and I shall answer you…’

and if it goes well (as I pray it will)
you might even incorporate this
into a yearly family occasion:
done with humour and with love;

this is what I wish for you
as ardently as I would have
wished it for myself;
for this is my regret,
for myself; and perhaps, for them..