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.
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