What is a Good Parent?
A good parent is not flawless, nor untouchable.
A good parent is human, but responsible.They love without conditions, as if love were the air their child breathes.
They stand as shelter when sour weather brews,
And as sunlight when shadows linger for too long.They listen to the tremble in a voice,
The sigh was tucked into the corner of a room. Not just words but to silences.They guide with an open hand, not a closed fist,
teaching choices instead of chains,
Freedom laced with responsibility.Their lessons are not carved into lectures,
but engraved in their own lived experiences — how they rise after falling, how they speak with kindness, and how they admit, “I was wrong.”A good parent celebrates each fragile victory, and when failure happens, they don’t take away the burden but help their child become strong enough to carry it.
They change as their children change, learning and unlearning,
always reaching toward the bond that matters most.In the end, being a good parent isn’t about being perfect. It’s about loving fiercely, guiding gently, and staying a compass even when the way is dark.
This is real and touching, and I know much of it is personal truth, which makes it even more powerful. I have only one suggestion. There is a disconnect between "a parent", which is singular, and "they", which is plural. You use "they" to good effect throughout this prose poem, so my first suggestion would be to change "A parent" to "parents" wherever it appears. If that doesn't appeal to you, then you could change "parent" to "mother" (or father) and use "she" instead of "they", or keep "parent" and go back and forth between "he" and "she" for each line. Sorry if this is too much information, but despite the growth of "they" as a shifting pronoun these days, in this case the lack of parallelism feels awkward. Just a thought. The work as a whole is beautifully tender.
This is an inspiring piece, Etya. I haven’t truly reflected on what it means to be a parent beyond what I learned not to be in being the son of an abusive father.