Teenage Boy

He used to run right down the street
A giggling as he went
A light-hearted and cheery boy
Without a care, intent
On having fun, on growing up
On simply being he
But then he mastered older years
The walk of puberty

His friends arrived; they’d nodded to
Each other, said few words
Then walked in quiet and passive file
Towards bus stop I’ve heard
They’d grown by now to near six foot
Where had my baby gone
A boy so tall and serious
Was this life going wrong?

Or was this how it’s meant to be
In teen years; testing time
To leave the laughs of childish play
And reckon, reason, rhyme
To move into the adult world
Where none dare mess about
Or at least that’s what I think they think
Where none dare jest and shout

For in his adolescence he’s
Become so very stern
With weight of world upon his back
As lessons still are learned
But then the odd thing glimmers through
Of lad with boyish charms
That lives to love and loves to live
So really there’s no harm

And thus when looking at him go
A walking down the road
A smile creeps in to think what he
Considers; how he goads
With adulthood, with growing up
With how he’s “meant” to be
And I smile to think how he’ll behave
When he is forty three!

Teenagers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Fourteen Going On Forty

He stood there looking at the glass
Greeted by a kind smile
As future’s face stared back at him
Beyond the mirrored tile

He saw tomorrow’s image
The man he might yet be
Reflection of his hopes and dreams
Past teen reality

He yearned to get there faster
Rush through the next few years
Pace quicker every single day
Save adolescent tears

To wish away his childhood
The pains of growing up
He pushed against the mirror
To drink from that man’s cup

To raise his glass impatiently
He thrashed the threshold so
Wanting to be that person now
Save wasting time to grow

Yet as he beat and wished away
His life, he cracked the glass
To break into the future now
Save building up a past

And then it kind of hit him
The fact that he would be
A half-finished and broken man
If he raced through puberty

For there’s a reason for this time
A teen spends on the earth
To find himself in a safe way
And appreciate his worth

16[Things]9/365 (actually 170/365, dammit) (Photo credit: reallyboring)

To Adolescence and Beyond

Now is the time for you to go
And find out just who you are.
To have your dreams and hopes and plans
And reach out for your own star.
To believe the world’s your oyster,
Have fun; to live and laugh,
But first and foremost be yourself
And know your heart and hearth
For your heart will guide you daily
As your mind learns more and more
And home’s hearth will always be here
With much warmth and love in store.