I will not teach my children to hate

I will not teach my children to hate

How do I teach my children?
Is it in the abundance of the words I say?
Can words turn their hearts,
When they are held in my actions sway;

What example have I fashioned,
Living in my day to day,
Every harsh or cruel word,
Molding hearts like pliant clay;

What acts of kindness,
Will influence their way,
To which memory will they turn
When passions begin to stray;

When attacks defy reason,
And retaliation seems the way,
Which lesson will stay them,
And let love rule the day;

Please, let me not teach them
A hardness of spirit or heart,
Please, let me show them
Where hatred doesn’t have a part;

Let my actions be tempered,
Make my words wrath turning,
Let me lead them in deed,
Now and forever learning;

A softness of heart,
Is not weakness implied,
It is just the shining out,
Of loves flame inside;

Which flickering flame,
I have sought carefully to tend,
Until brightly it burns,
In today’s fiercest wind;

I do not fear times ravage,
Nor put my trust in fate,
I face the future with pride,
I have not taught my children to hate

Ron Simpson, Jr.