To pardon your child for leaving

his socks on the floor

I can understand.

I’ve done that many a time.

But raising a hand against another

is unforgivable;

the crossing of a line that they  know

cannot be touched,

and that natural consequences will follow.

That is the job of the parent

to educate and show by example

what is right and wrong

so the child can sort through it all,

and know the gray area too.

Like the laundry basket that does not care

if the socks are deposited there or not.

But to allow behaviors to escalate to a point

That the nation knows

the wrongs that were committed  

and that all was forgiven

because the father had the power to do so –

that is unconscionable and unforgiveable

as it teaches our youth

to merge the gray with the black and white

ending all those lessons of sorting through

moral truths and values.

That I cannot, as a parent, forgive.