Scott Whitby, 2020
I sit on this porch
Drink some alcohol
Listen to the birds
Think about it all
Sometimes I figure it out
Other times I don't
Sometimes I can't
If it's painful I just won't
I thought Daddy was simple
He'd sit in the yard
Now I know he was thinking
Experienced all that was hard
He was old like so many
Who'd succeeded and lost
Probably laughed at my ideas
Already knowing the cost
Why don't we listen or heed?
The old ones have seen all the clues
Instead we learn it again
As if it's all new
They know not to tell us
They feel no need to say
They were the same
Ignored it all to learn it their way
But what if we heard
What if we could trust
At least the easy things
They already knew more than us
If they said don't or
Wait a bit and think it through
Why be in a hurry?
I wouldn't if I were you
And what if we listened?
Took in that advice
Considered what they say
No mistakes to make twice
They didn't and we won't
Just like ours never will
Learn it all again brand new
Do it again, only time is killed
The old ones die all-knowing
And we will too
Those after us will figure it out
Then they'll die with all the clues
So I sit on this porch
Like he did in the yard
Let them learn it on their own
So what if it's hard
Y'all can learn it like I did
And like my daddy did before
We didn't listen and you won't
And your kids won't...that's for sure
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