Empathic response

I’ve so enjoyed watching the new fawns 

Dance across our lawn, and yet — 

The hard part is watching the yearling, 

Who’s spent the last year with the mama 

Who now chases her angrily away 

Whenever she comes close.

 I know it’s just projection, 

But still I feel the echoes of rejection— 

Both my own and those my children faced; 

An inevitable part of growing up, 

And yet so painful. 

We can’t help but delight in all the new, 

But still we ache for all that’s left behind…