ONCE WHEN I WAS YOUNG MY TEMPER WAS REALLY BAD
I WOULD THROW A FIT AT THE DROP OF A HAT AND NEVER FEEL THAT SAD
I WOULD LASH OUT AT ANYONE FOR LITTLE REASON AT ALL
I WOULD SAY HURTFUL THINGS AS THEY STOOD IN APPALL
SOON I HAD VERY FEW FRIENDS OR EVEN FAMILY ANYMORE
SO I ASKED MY DADDY WHY, AS HE WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR
HE SAID HE WOULD HAVE TO SHOW ME SO I WOULD UNDERSTAND
HE THEN BEGAN TO TELL ME JUST WHAT HE HAD PLANNED
AS HE LED ME TO THE BACKYARD BY THE OLD WOODEN FENCE.
I COULD TELL THAT MY LESSON WAS ABOUT TO COMMENCE.
A BAG OF NAILS AND A HAMMER HE PLACED IN MY HAND.
SMILING DOWN AT ME HE COULD TELL I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND.
WHENEVER YOU FEEL ANGRY AND YOU’RE ON THE OFFENSE
I WANT YOU TO HAMMER A SINGLE NAIL INTO THIS OLD WOODEN FENCE
MY HAMMER IN ONE HAND A NAIL IN THE OTHER.
I DROVE MY FIRST NAIL BECAUSE I WAS MAD AT MY BROTHER.
THIS WENT ON FOR DAYS AND WEEKS AS I GREW WEARY OF THAT FENCE
DADDY, I THINK I LEARNED MY LESSON, SMILING QUITE PRETENSE.
SMILING AS HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID “THAT I SERIOUSLY DOUBT”.
FOR ALL THOSE NAILS YOU DROVE IN ANGER NOW MUST BE TAKEN BACK OUT.
AS I PULLED OUT THE NAILS ONE BY ONE A PAINSTAKING TASK THIS BECAME
THE OLD WOODEN FENCE WAS NOW FULL OF HOLES FOR WHICH I WAS THE BLAME
I WENT TO MY DADDY AND TOLD HIM, THIS IS WHAT HE SAID
DRIVING THOSE NAILS IN THAT OLD WOODEN FENCE REPRESENTED YOUR ANGER AND DREAD
PULLING THEM OUT WAS SAYING YOUR SORRY AND YOU’LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN
THE HOLES THAT WERE LEFT ARE THE SCARS YOU LEFT WITH YOUR HURTFUL WORDS OF BANE
AS YOU LOOK AT THAT OLD WOODEN FENCE FILLED WITH HOLES YOU WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE PAIN
BUT JUST ALWAYS KNOW THAT JUST LIKE PEOPLE, SOME MAY NOT HAVE WEATHERED THE RAIN
Simply my Thoughts
By
Dean Butler
