“It is never too late to have a happy childhood.” - Tom Robbins
At what point do we stop being children and enter that curious phase of adolescence that melds imperceptibly into adulthood? Hard to say, we all are so different and children nowadays are so much in a hurry to rush headlong into adolescence and adulthood. Do some of us bypass this adolescent phase? Circumstances can throw us into the adult world rudely, suddenly, with no warning.
Some of us may choose to linger in the playground well into adulthood and our adolescence is indeed a long one, overlapping imperceptibly over childhood games and adult amusements. But some of us have no choice: We sleep tight one night in our pastel-tinted childhood bedroom to the sound of fairy tales being read aloud to us, and awaken alone the next morning in a bleak bedsitter full of gray obligations and black and white responsibilities of the adult world.
Lucky are those amongst us who can preserve the child that plays within our soul and in whose hearts the child’s song resounds. Woe unto those who have been thrust into adulthood and the only remnant of childhood is the evanescent sweet taste of a pleasant dream, forgotten in the morning.
The Child
In the backyard of my soul
A child runs, plays, laughs,
Wastes his time heedlessly
While the tall walls hide their secrets.
In the courtyard of my heart
A child sings, loudly, happily;
Not caring about anything
Drowning in oceans of joy.
In the backyard of my soul
The child grows up, stands still.
The walls crumble and reveal much;
And the tears begin to flow…
In the courtyard of my heart
There is no child any more.
Only a still, empty, echoing space
A deserted melancholy.
Sans Souci hosts poetry Wednesday. Visit her blog for the tour!
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