hazard a guess

The past always seems better 
when you look back on it
than it did at the time, 
and the present never looks as good 
as it will in the future.

Sure, there are moments 
in my existence
that I wish had never ended,
but then I wouldn't be here,
and this part is fresh and fun.

The playground at sundown,
frivolity, laughter, love, 
I got to be a witness 
to my daughter's existence
and make her better than mine was.

Mine was abandonment, alienation, 
I want her to be music and fart jokes,
and that is why I live in the present,
because if you spend too much time 
reliving old joys or miseries, you miss the now. 

When she looks back,
I hope she sees smiles
from the beginning to the forever,
but even the frowns can be clowns
as we all just hazard a guess.