POETRY
Life as a teenager can be a tough one to live. I know: I did it. Unlike most, I've not forgotten. In the long run, I've regained the freedom which so many of my young friends have. As Baz Luhrmann wrote, "... Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't..."
So I wrote this for one of my kid sisters, who's struggling with life.
Hush, little sister
Don't talk as you do,
of hush a bye baby,
you're almost dead.
Bottle in one hand.
Gun in the other,
pointed at your head.
You've lived a life:
all that you've done;
everything you've seen.
Look at your hands:
no genie in the bottle,
nor in the magazine.
Soon you'll grow.
But don't rush.
You've not started yet.
Strap yourself in,
for memories
and regret.
Don't follow the path
I took, but look
at me:
because I'm your elder
brother.
Still free.
Life as a teenager can be a tough one to live. I know: I did it. Unlike most, I've not forgotten. In the long run, I've regained the freedom which so many of my young friends have. As Baz Luhrmann wrote, "... Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't..."
So I wrote this for one of my kid sisters, who's struggling with life.
Hush, little sister
Don't talk as you do,
of hush a bye baby,
you're almost dead.
Bottle in one hand.
Gun in the other,
pointed at your head.
You've lived a life:
all that you've done;
everything you've seen.
Look at your hands:
no genie in the bottle,
nor in the magazine.
Soon you'll grow.
But don't rush.
You've not started yet.
Strap yourself in,
for memories
and regret.
Don't follow the path
I took, but look
at me:
because I'm your elder
brother.
Still free.
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