to Nancy ( on her 16th birthday)

There comes a time in every's girl life
when she's no longer a child
and she's too young for a wife

These are known as the golden years
Your growth is nurtured by joy and by tears

Learn and grow and use these years well
For they will determine if life's heaven or hell

I wish I could lead you or show you the way
But you are the one that must choose day by day

And so m darling, my angel, my star
All I can do is watch from afar

I know you will stumble and trip on the way
and all any mother can do is to pray

I hope that the joy you have given to others
will come back to you from your "sisters and brothers"

I pray that your friendship so loyal and true
sill double and triple and come back to you

I wish that your reverence for all kinds of life
Would encircle the earth, and thus end its strife

And yet, my darling, my angel, my star
all I can do is watch from afar