Song Of Sweet Sixteen

you are so young ready to open
the doors of womanhood.
A one way entrance from
which there is no return.
Your tears are like spring water.
Pure and healing all heartache.
Unlike mine hot and burning.
Scalding my heart with lasting pain.
I forearmed you with unheeded warnings.
Of the men in their beauty when
like little boys they want everything
From a lady they desire.
Of loves afterglow
that stays white hot
Inside the heart, burning
the hands of all that grasp it.
You choose to forgive so easily.
Unwittingly ignoring
the scorpions lair.
where love lies
and the fatal sting
it carries in its tail.
I crave to take
your young man
Shake him until
his bones rattle.
But he circles your new life
like a predator seeking its
next meal.
But now I understand.
My duty
Is to let you
fly from my nest
to fly into your own life.
A parting
that is so much
harder for me…
Than it will be for you.