Photo by Guy Basabose on Unsplash

When they are born, your heart begins a new turn.
When they are one, you teach them to have fun.
When they are two, their personality comes through.
When they are three, their independence starts to be.
When they are four, they learn the word more.
When they are five, curiosity comes alive.
When they are six, their stubbornness starts to kick.
When they are seven, they think they are eleven.
When they are eight, they try to debate.
When they are nine, their room will never shine.
When they are ten, then teen years seem to begin.
When eleven hits, they have got real good at throwing fits.
When they become twelve, their old toys go on the shelf.
When thirteen comes around, they always want to be in town.
When they are fourteen, they are hardly seen.
When fifteen is here, they are all a cheer.
When the next three years hit, they will hopefully be getting ready for life a little bit.
Then eighteen is here, school is in the past,
Hopefully their learning will help their life be a blast.
“Live by this”
Go straight, be strong, help others along.
Be true, be free, share your love with others and me.
Teach those in need, don’t give in to greed.
Build the life you want, but those with less don’t shun.
Times can get hard, love and patience can pull you through.
Keep love in your heart, and know like you love, someone loves you.

 
Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. The Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned. The work is lightly edited but has not been otherwise fact-checked.

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Greywolf

Greywolf is a writer incarcerated in Southeast Correctional Center in Missouri. He requested that he be published under his Indian given name, Greywolf, of the wolf clan in Bartow, Florida.