The Divide

poem of leaving childhood

I stepped across the divide
between childhood and acting adult

Goodbye to licking the beaters
of the delicious cakes my mom made
Goodbye to swinging on the swing set
precariously on the edge of the buttercup hill
Goodbye to tromping through woods
to find a mound of pine needles, to sit and search the clouds
Hello to deadlines and due dates
Hello to competition and vindictiveness
Hello to family quarrels and divorce

I stepped across the impossible divide
and found that, except to somehow regain my innocence,
There was no reason to look back.