Picture courtesy www.yankodesign.com
In the sandboxes
Swings,
Ferris wheels
Crayons
Muddied fields
Silly crushes
Pigtails and pleated
Skirts of childhood
We embraced experiments,
Unearthed free expression
And became free thinkers,
We questioned that which moved
And that which did not,
We sought to find meaning in
Everything and anything.
In the confines of schooling,
We reveled in the triumphs and
Defeats of daycare, kindergarten,
Primary, secondary and tertiary
Education,
We were taught to walk and sit without the
Slouch,
Stand upright without turning our feet
Onto the sides and ruining our shoes,
Straighten neckties and lose our
Innate fear of strangulation,
Speak and punctuate at will instead
Of forming our own based on sounds that
We heard and did not really hear,
We questioned very little and became a
Statistic in the status quo,
We thought very little and copied a lot,
We’ve become painted impressions on
Grey walls,
We’re masters at keeping up appearances.
Now,
Free expression suffers and
With it the child,
But growing up has never really been about
Wearing white shirts all day and
Keeping them snow-white devoid of creases,
It’s about adding onto what we learnt
As children and finding ourselves in
The everydays of life,
Chipping away at our jagged edges and
Smoothening out rough ends.
Everyday,
All we continually do
Is build walls and marginalize
The child that was us many years ago,
And in between glasses of
Wine, grilled chicken,
Veggie burgers
Plates of pumpkin pie,
Stiffies,
Hickies
Maps showing cleavage,
Terrible kisses and those of the
Hair-raising kind that leaves smoke
Shooting from our ears and billowing
Out our backsides,
We’ve forgotten how and what
Made us truly happy growing up,
When all we have to do is revisit the child
And learn the unshakeable truth,
Sandboxes and mud never lie,
True happiness is all around,
We’ve just gotten too complex to figure
That out.
