In 2013 I entered this in one of the Spectator’s poetry competitions, if memory serves a version of a well-known poem endeavouring to convey the precisely opposite message. With apologies to Philip Larkin:
They raised you well, your mum and dad,
You might not think so, but they did.
They made the most of what they had
And tried their utmost for their kid.
They were well brought up in their turn
By dedicated caregiver, teacher, and so on.
I am glad the soldiers were made return,
So our children could afford this glorious dawn.
Man hands on incremental progress to man
All rising, clear shore to sunny beach.
Reproduce as quickly as you can
And always enthusiastically teach.
Séamus Sweeney 