The Lecture Marathon | A Poem

A single mistake, a stumble, a fall  

And here comes the lecture, a speech for us all 

It starts with a sigh, then stories unfold 

Of rivers they crossed in the freezing cold 

"When I was your age, life wasn’t this sweet 

We climbed the mountain with no shoes on our feet!  

No phones, no games, no fancy delight  

Just hunger and chores from morning till night!" 

"We studied by candle, through wind and through rain  

While working the fields to lessen the strain  

No tutors, no breaks, no time for fun  

Just endless toil from dawn till done!"  

The story goes left, then takes a new track  

Somehow my teacher’s now under attack  

Then siblings and neighbors are pulled in too 

By the time they are done, I am fifty-two 

My mistake? Forgotten, somewhere in the tale  

Lost in a storm of life’s tough travail 

But the guilt still lingers, heavy and tight 

Not from my error, but from their hindsight  

So now I tread with cautious feet  

Afraid to fail, afraid to cheat 

Not out of morals, nor lessons so wise 

But to dodge the storm of endless sighs 

Dear parents, hear me, just once, be still  

Not every mistake needs a tale to instill 

We know, we regret, we’ve felt the sting

We don’t need a speech, we need comforting

A gentle hand, a nod, a grace  

Not a marathon, not a chase  

For lessons land where kindness stays  

Not in the flood of yesterdays