They Become Us Poem by Randy McClave

We smoke because our parents do
Sometimes that's the reason why we chew,
And we also learned how to swear and how to curse
Also by listening to our parents first.
Some children learn how to drink
After seeing their parents glasses in the sink,
And after seeing their parents drinking a drink or three
One day they're hoping to join the same company.
They see their parents making mistakes without compassion
As if it was todays most common fashion,
And never do they say their sorry or admit their guilt
Another them, they have unconsciously built.
They see their parents smoking pot
And they see how that they are never caught,
And how they are happy taking that simple drug
So, the children then give an accepting shrug.
Someday soon the impressionable children cannot wait
To carry on their parents favorite trait,
But, until then they will just sit and watch and listen carefully
While believing in their parents soulfully.
We also become bigots and also racists
Because we hear it from our parents and see it in their faces,
Then parents wonder why children drink, smoke and are prejudiced and cuss
It's because our children, in the end become us.

Randy L. McClave