Chasing Ghosts

I wrote this poem when thinking about a defensive gesture a friend made once.

Chasing Ghosts

What you expect is
for me to
help you
to feel ashamed
of yourself
because you have
heard
that children
pay for the sins
of their fathers

But who has time
for such
futility when
there is so much
for us to
repair?

Come, and stand beside me
and let us look
together
at the world we share
And if the
ghosts of your grandfathers
make you afraid
then you may hold my hand
and together
we will make
what is wrong,
right.