Childhood is ok
until you realize
it’s not.

Suddenly you want
to do what
big kids do,

which
is great
for a while

until you
realize that’s
not enough.

You find yourself
longing to
be an adult,

come and go
as you want,
or so you think

until you realize
adulthood comes
with rules, obligations.

It’s not bad.
It’s just not
what you expected.

You find yourself
in a world where
there seems to be

a rule for everything
and the terminology
is frequently changing.

You begin to understand
“Forever After”
is code

for some vague time
in a place that is
“far far away…”

and the notion
of “freedom”
is defined

according to
who said
what, when

and a willingness
to fight for others
as well as self.

And then you realize
You still can not
do what you want

and there are more
expectations and rules
than you ever imagined

and being an adult
is a lot more
complicated,

exhausting and
even exciting
than you dreamed.

and will always
involve more work
and sacrifice

than you
ever
anticipated.

 

Janet Cormier is a painter, writes prose and poetry, and performs comedy. Janet prefers different and original over pretty. She loves collecting stuff, but cleaning not so much. Janet also talks to strangers. A lot. Her column appears weekly on Oddball Magazine.