caution
Be careful, my child, when you go outside to play.
For there are bad people,
Evil people,
Who find their fun in stealing little girls like you away.
They’ll offer you candy or ask for help in finding their dog,
And my dear, I know you love puppies,
But you must remain obstanant.
They will make cruelty of your kindness.
Have caution, little girl, when you ride your bike
Around the neighborhood.
These streets, they twist and turn,
And without a map you’ll find yourself lost
Alone in the trees, hidden among the leaves,
In a place where your calls for help will be reminiscent
Of birdsong.
And I ask that you be choosy
In your words and fights and thoughts.
Your arguments will earn you loneliness, anger, fear.
You must be selective with your confrontations
And your passions
And your loudness.
Choose the ones you can sustain, the ones that bring you happiness
But not the ones that bring others pain.
Guard your thoughts like they’re made of solid gold,
For you may not see it now,
But gold is all they are.
Hold them close like you would a lover,
Protect them as fiercely as a mother would her child.
You will find yourself alone, one day,
A loud girl with a love for small dogs,
With a birdsong voice,
But your thoughts will find their own.
Do not be too quick to give yourself away
To a dream, to a passion,
To a person.
Beware of false promises and finding what you want
In what you don’t.
Do not settle for anything less than what is perfect to you,
Little girl,
Or you might lose yourself.
And what would a mother do?