The Quest

De José Antonio Calañas Continente
Villanueva de Jiloca (Zaragoza), August 2012
Be responsible,
be a role model.
be brave,
be reliable,
be a man of your word.
Core values instilled by loving parents,
core values made to be a framework
while growing up,
while living as a kid,
core values that shied away
the child in you.
Unnoticed, discretely
the child in you hid away,
his gentle playful soul got lost
in the innermost depths
of your mind,
of your soul.
Then the time struck
of real adulthood,
and you missed him terribly,
the child that is in you,
the child that is you:
The quest started with a bang.
You looked for and did find him:
hidden away, alone,
feeling abandoned
after being neglected for so long;
angry, whining, pouting,
throwing at you a broadside
of bottled up tantrums,
refusing to go with you.
Both hiccupping after a while,
the responsible, reliable adult you are
and the hurt child in you,
you cradle him in your arms
and whisper gently an eternal vow
that brings back the peace
you have been missing for so long:
I will always love you,
I will always cherish you,
I will always let you be you,
because –not that reasons are needed–
because you brighten my life,
because at every turn of the road
you make me see the world anew,
because you deserve it
just by being yourself.

Because without you,
I would simply not be.

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