With Respect to the Young

I take it all off, and put it all back on.
I never ran away from this well, at least I never tried.
One day I will yearn for everything I know I will never have. 

Mother set me straight, and let me become an honest man,
Father let me stand, and let me have the power to understand,
Everything between life and death, heaven and hell, love and hate. 
'Cause I have been lied to,
Broken and set apart,
Cheated and deceived,
And planed against.

Listen to me child; your heart is a delicate, endangered flower,
It knows no pain, no hate or love… each petal, a year of your life, each grain of pollen, and ounce of emotion. 
When you grow old, and grey, and the time passes by minutes not days,
You will pray the same.
Beg your past to forgive you, beg yourself to forgive your past.
Because I know I never thought I would, but I was so wrong.