Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them ― a mother’s approval, a father’s nod ― are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories and all their accomplishments sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.
Kumar Patel: I fear that I will always be/ A lonely number like root three/ ... I wish instead I were a nine/ For nine could thwart this evil trick,/ with just some quick arithmetic.