A Journey Back

I WAS ONCE A CHILD
Who burned with resentment for rules
And for authority and tradition too.
I lost myself in worlds of fantasy
Where anything goes and so could me.
The mellow glow of the sunset light
Would cast a carefree feel across those cool summer nights
Where I would laugh long with friends over the phone
Back when that was all that we all had really known.

I am now an adolescent
Who wishes to know what I do not know
And yet wishes to not know what I do already know.
I try to create worlds that I can call my own
But they feel forced,
Unlike the magic that defined my youth.
The sun still casts a vintage glow
But now we only see each other
In four walls devoid of windows
And now we only talk of getting ahead
Or whether we’re falling behind.

I will be an adult
Yet, I will not become an adult
I will become an artist,
Maybe a writer too, musician of ideas
Conductor of words
Or, perhaps, I will be an animator
Whose touch brings life to worlds beyond our own
It is one thing to be an adult
One with skill and talent and an open mind
One who can be responsible for themselves and the world.
But it is another thing to become an adult
To cast yourself into a world devoid of childlike wonder
I will not let myself solidify into the mold that the world wants me to
Because we all have things that we are meant to do.