Mothers and fathers, daughters and sons: we each swim through the deep waters of childhood, and when we grow up, we sometimes arrive on the shore of parenthood. “One generation passeth away,” Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, “and another generation cometh.” The messy parade of life continues. There are many fine poems that express the push and pull of parent and child, a journey through choppy seas that leaves a long wake. Here are some of our favorites.— Ed.“Poem for a Daughter” is from Poems 1955–2005, by Anne Stevenson. Copyright © 2005 by Anne Stevenson. Reprinted by permission of Bloodaxe Books.“Changing Diapers” is from Axe Handles, by Gary Snyder. Copyright © 1983 by Gary Snyder. Reprinted by permission of Counterpoint.“Hurry” is from The Kingdom of Ordinary Time, by Marie Howe. Copyright © 2008 by Marie Howe. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.“Yesterday” is from Migration: New and Selected Poems, by W.S. Merwin. Copyright © 1983, 2005 by W.S. Merwin. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency and The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of Copper Canyon Press.“Those Winter Sundays” is from Angle of Ascent: New and Selected Poems, by Robert Hayden. Copyright © 1975, 1972, 1970, 1966 by Robert Hayden. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Liveright Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.“Brown Circle” is from Ararat, by Louise Glück. Copyright © 1990 by Louise Glück. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.“Nikki-Rosa” is from Black Judgement, by Nikki Giovanni. Copyright © 1968, 1970 by Nikki Giovanni. Reprinted by permission of Harper-Collins Publishers.“At the IGA: Franklin, New Hampshire” is from Collected Poems, by Jane Kenyon. Copyright © 2005 by The Estate of Jane Kenyon. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.“Acupuncture and Cleansing at Forty-Eight” is from The Trouble-Making Finch, by Len Roberts. Copyright © 1998 by Len Roberts. Reprinted by permission of University of Illinois Press.“I Go Back to May 1937” is from The Gold Cell, by Sharon Olds. Copyright © 1987 by Sharon Olds. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.