The Price To Pay

When we are born into this wondrous life,
We hope for one that is peaceful, clear of all strife,
But from the first day, the very first day,
We never know of the price we must pay,
For whatever happens, in no matter what way,
There is always a price that we have to pay.

Even as children, innocent and free,
Not understanding how hard life can be,
Someone has to pay the price,
For our free and unworried life,
The lines in our parent furrowed brow,
Greying hair and ageing all show how,
For us to live in a carefree way,
It's our parents who have the price to pay.

When something drastic come to pass,
To tear our carefree life in half,
Tragedy happens to show that we,
Are not shielded from how hard life can be,
Death can strike any time to raise our fears,
To remind us what awaits us in future years,
To lose siblings, and parents, torn roughly away,
Is part of the price we all must pay.

It's fine when we are young and confidence high,
Do not notice how fast the years go by,
See our children spread wings to leave and roam,
To move far away, to start their own home,
We say we understand, they have their own life,
To love a new partner, make them husband or wife,
Make life without us, to make their own way,
To leave us alone, it's the price we must pay,
Just because they have gone, are no longer near,
Doesn't stop us from missing those we hold dear.

So, now left alone, just Derby and Joan,
To live out our retirement, at home, on our own,
You would think it would be all sweetness and light,
But this is the time when the price starts to bite,
To see the one you have loved for so many years,
Succumb to some illness, the sum of all fears,
To sicken and waste, to fade day by day,
The darkest, the hardest, the price we must pay,
To live on alone, and to wonder each day,
When will it end and what price must we pay ?