This is very much my philosophy, Nancy, and your poem is great. While all your poems are great I love when you do more than describe a movie, I love when your own messaging comes through, which often happens in your ekphrastics.

For many years I've said in various settings about my life and my children exactly what you said here about my children. Recently I've refined it a bit as under my understanding of the way things work our children's existence is set in stone via the interplay of all our cowritten soul contracts/improv scripts/ incarnation itineraries but there is still much left to free will. Just like when we die is predetermined but how we live and how we die is very much the product of our choices and the choices of others too.

Thank you for reminding me about the contest. I should probably come up with an entry.