Youth: a poem
What is youth but a burst of energy, lacking direction? A super nova expanding,
A cataclysm of spontaneous happenings.
An animal tearing at the flesh of life to get down to the bones of contention!
Parents sometimes witness these galactic events; Then wonder, Is this child ours?
It is said, all who visit this planet, need children of their own,
For without this much needed experience, one’s education will lack the cornerstone
To finish their spiritual building.
At one time, I thought how wasteful this period of life can be rather than adulthood,
I now know how wrong I was, this phase is for the moulding of ones personality,
For you are with your peers, who can and do the most amazing and haywire things
Just for the purpose of testing, building pride of accomplishment, showing others
That things are not as difficult as first thought, one learns, pride can come before a fall.
Limitless hesitation, along with an inner trust to drive on at a pace unknown to civilized men,
Contempt of others, not of their class or persuasion; Why would they think of dying? Pshaw!
What is fear? Don’t be ridiculous! They are animals feeding in frenzy on the flesh of life,
So that they may get to the bare bones; to the source of all that is.
Parents realize too late, the gold mine under their noses, begging to be mined,
To reveal the wealth,
They have spawned patience, tolerance, love, anxiety, and satisfaction also understanding.
In the span of a few brief years they accomplish all this and more.
This then is youth.
G. Manners,
Cowichan Bay