Growin' Up

[couchgrouch]

Growin' UpI remember feeling afraidof that mean teacher in third gradetill that neighbor girl with golden braidshelped me with Roman numeralswe'd hang out all weekend longwatch sprinkler rainbows on April lawnsI stood there holding her armthrough both her goldfish funeralsthere's so much to discoverfor eager young heartsbut learning to support each otheris really the startof growin' upand slowly becomingsomeone who's uniquelifting each other uplaughing, falling and runningin backyards and Little Leagueshare ourselves...helping neighborsgiving comfort...doing favorsfor those in needthe kindness we showthat's the soil where we growand love is the seedof growin' upthis schoolyard bully used to boasthow he stole my lunch and bloodied my noseI should've fought back but that's how it goesI didn't have the nervelike my dad I grew up and joined the Corps.just before I left for Desert Stormthat bully saw my uniformshook my hand...said he was too scared to serveI thought my girl'd be weepingbut that night she soothed my doubtsand as she lay there sleepingI started thinking aboutgrowin' upand slowly becomingsomeone who's uniquelifting each other upand when we hear the drummingbe willing to fight and speaksome follow...some are maverickssome have fire in the fabricof their soulsyou can't tell when they're borncos it's not in the acornbut in the oakand that's growin' upnow I see in our sonthe wonder of being youngbut even now I watch rainbowslike they're heaven's gatesand I still stare, at my wife's hairin those long yellow braidscos we grow olderbut we never stopgrowin' up(c)2005 Robert George