While studying sustainability I came across a TED lecture by Ray Anderson.

While sustainability is something we should all consider, the poem at the end of his talk by Glenn Thomas is something I’d like to share.

Tomorrow’s Child

Without a name, an unseen face,

and knowing not your time or place,
Tomorrow’s child, though yet unborn,

I met you first last Tuesday morn.

A wise friend introduced us two.

And through his sobering point of view
I saw a day that you would see,

a day for you but not for me.Knowing you has changed my thinking.

For I never had an inkling
that perhaps the things I do

might someday, somehow threaten you.

Tomorrow’s child, my daughters son,
I’m afraid I’ve just begun

to think of you and of your good,
though always having known I should.Begin, I will, to weigh the cost

of what I squander, what is lost,
if ever I forget that you

will someday come and live here too.

– Glenn Thomas

~

Glenn also wrote a response from Tomorrow’s Child to his ancestor

When Love and Common Sense Combined
A Poem From Tomorrow’s Child Because you cared so long ago
although you know you’d never know
If anything you’d do or say
would make a difference here today.

Though you saw you’d never see,
yet you cared so much for me;
An unknown name, a hidden face,
a future time and secret place.

And when you threw away your fear
like a tired souvenir,
And learned that being strong
meant admitting you were wrong

I marked that day with humankind
when love and common sense combined,
And to my benefit unfurled
a rich endowment for the world.

– Glenn Thomas