When a Child/When a Parent

When a child demands, she's called bossy.
When a parent demands, she's called firm.

When a child yells and screams, she's 'out of control'.
When a parent yells and screams, she's exasperated and tired.

When a child doesn't answer, he's called rude.
When a parent doesn't answer, she's called busy.

When a child isn't satisfied, she's called spoiled.
When a parent isn't satisfied, she's called discerning.

When a child is angry, she's 'out of line'.
When a parent is angry, she's justified.

When a child hits, society calls her violent and aggressive.
When a parent hits, society calls it 'discipline'.

--Lu

Part One: Life

THE BRAIN is wider than the sky,
For, put them side by side,
The one the other will include
With ease, and you beside.

The brain is deeper than the sea, 5
For, hold them, blue to blue,
The one the other will absorb,
As sponges, buckets do.

The brain is just the weight of God,
For, lift them, pound for pound, 10
And they will differ, if they do,
As syllable from sound.

~Emily Dickinson

The Blindmen and the Elephant

It was six men of Hindustan

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant

(Though all of them were blind)

That each by observation

Might satisfy the mind.

The first approached the Elephant

And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side

At once began to bawl:

‘‘Bless me, it seems the Elephant

Is very like a wall’’.

The second, feeling of his tusk,

Cried, ‘‘Ho! What have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me ‘tis mighty clear

This wonder of an Elephant

Is very like a spear’’.

The third approached the animal,

And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Then boldly up and spake:

‘‘I see,’’ quoth he, ‘‘the Elephant

Is very like a snake.’’

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,

And felt about the knee.

‘‘What most this wondrous beast is like

Is mighty plain,’’ quoth he;

‘‘‘Tis clear enough the Elephant

Is very like a tree!’’

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said: ‘‘E’en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an Elephant

Is very like a fan!’’

The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail

That fell within his scope,

‘‘I see,’’ quoth he, ‘‘the Elephant

Is very like a rope!’’

And so these men of Hindustan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right

And all were in the wrong.

John Godfrey Saxe, The Blindmen and the Elephant

(1873)