Perspective

Once there were two young brothers,
Who together, on a long journey began,
They headed towards their childhood home,
They went to meet their old man.

The men laughed and had a lovely time together,
And the sand trickled away without track,
But eventually that moment arrived,
When the sons had to part ways and head back.

The father then bid his two sons goodbye,
Long time it’d be until they’d see each other,
He also gave a large sack of almonds,
As a parting-gift to each brother.

After many days, the first of the brothers,
Made the journey back to meet his dad,
And when they met again, his father asked,
“How has life been treating you, my lad?”.

The father then listened to his son complain,
About an unfair life that had his plans hijacked,
The son exclaimed in a disillusioned tone,
“Against me have all the cards been stacked.”.

“And how were the almonds?”, the father asked,
Polished all of them off, the son had,
“I ate two of them daily”, the son explained,
“Picking ones that were about to go bad.”.

Soon, the second brother made the trip home,
And the father glad to see his son,
Asked him about how life had been lately,
Just as he had asked the first one,

The second brother described a rosier picture,
With his life, he seemed to be more content,
He felt that he gotten all that he had prayed for,
Every moment he lived, he said, was well spent,

“And how were the almonds?”, the father queried,
And now, he had managed to finish them all as well!
He said, “I ate a couple of the best almonds daily,
And all the almonds were really swell!”