At the End of the Day

What made me glance up
In time to catch your sadness
As you took Goodnight Moon,
Your new baby-doll, and Eeyore
Off down the hall, I wonder

After all, I needed to keep working
If I had any hope of finishing
My writing on time

The look in your baby blues
Held me suspended in that limbo
Of skewed priorities - the ones
I'm forever telling my daughters
to avoid

Those hackneyed phrases
we've all heard
Might be cliched but that
doesn't make them ant less true
No-one does reach the end
of their life and wish
they'd spent more time

Doing laundry, vacuuming,
staying late at the office
Or any of the myriad things
that do get done eventually

But I think many of us regret
time we didn't spend
with our loved ones
Or just doing things we enjoyed
And it bears remembering that
early enough and often enough
to change

So, I dashed after you, my
darling grandson
And scooped you up -
Was immediately rewarded
By your sunshine-filled face
I told you honestly that I had
Made a mistake, that I will
Never be too busy for you

And now that is going to be
my main priority
Keeping that promise.\