On Children — A Song Across Time, After Kahlil Gibran
by Wei Dai
Many years ago, when my children were young, I recorded Khalil Gibran's On Children as a simple spoken reading, without music. One thought stayed with me: Perhaps the deepest love a parent can give their children is the love that learns, one day, to let go. Back then, letting go was more of an idea I was trying to understand. Years have passed. My children have grown, and those words have become part of my own life. So I returned to On Children — not to read it again, but to let it become a song of my life. The old recording is a voice from a time of questioning, struggle, reflection, and learning. The song comes from many years later, when those words have slowly found their way from the poem into my life. Between the two is a life. A small time capsule of love, from holding on to opening my hands. Let them be. Let them grow. Let them fly. The words are almost the same. I am not.
