{"id":832,"date":"2008-03-27T01:06:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-27T05:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=832"},"modified":"2013-06-27T13:40:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-27T17:40:19","slug":"a-thousand-miles-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=832","title":{"rendered":"A Thousand Miles Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am going through some old books and in one book of poems by a Perry Tanksley I came across this poem entitled “A Thousand Miles Away.”\u009d It is a negative counterpart to my “Bedtime with My Boys”\u009d<\/a> and a good reminder of the value of reading to and talking with our children.<\/p>\n

My boys would burst into my room
\nAnd find me in my chair,
\nAnd they would ask advice or tell
\nOne of their exploits rare.
\nBut I would wave them on and say,
\nWhenever they inquired,
\n“Perhaps you ought to run along;
\nTonight I’m very tired.”\u009d
\nAnd I’d go right on reading news
\nAs they would beg to stay,
\nBut I ignored them like they were
\nA thousand miles away.
\nAh! Things are different now and I
\nWould give my all in fact
\nTo have them burst into my room
\nAnd see them trooping back.
\nAla it’s not to be because
\nMy sons grew strong and tall
\nAnd moved a thousand miles away-
\nSo far they seldom call.
\nAnd it’s not that I want them here
\nIf they are called elsewhere,
\nNor is it that I doubt their love.
\nI’m sure they really care.
\nBut I can’t help but wonder what
\nThe outcome might have been
\nIf I had laid the paper down
\nAnd talked to them back then.
\nOf course, I can’t take these things back
\nBut for my sons I pray
\nThat they’ll each take time with their boys
\nBefore they move away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am going through some old books and in one book of poems by a Perry Tanksley I came across this poem entitled “A Thousand Miles Away.”\u009d It is a negative counterpart to my “Bedtime with My Boys”\u009d and a good reminder of the value of reading to and talking with our children. My boys …<\/p>\n

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