I was racing with the wind down the damp, grassy hill with bare feet.
Friends followed behind me desperately, trying to catch their breath.
Our hair flew behind us carelessly through the summer breeze.
I felt like a dandelion flying through a white orchid field.
The new ideas of fun entered our brains like lightbulbs.
As long as I saw smiles, everything was fine.
The only gray cloud I saw was the thought of one of my friends throwing a water balloon at me.
I could once go on the upside-down roller coaster with not a drop of cold sweat on my back.
I was happily, reckless.
I always continued on the optimistic train of life and never headed back to the station to see if I took the wrong train.
It was only my thoughts acting as the soloists in my head to guide my decisions. No one else’s voice was there back then.
My mind was a soaring hummingbird flying across robin egg blue skies.
It was like cool, turquoise water.
My parents navigated me through the sea of choices where all I had to do was learn to see the good.
They were the bulletproof glass shielding me from the dark, melancholy parts of the world.
Time was once longer.
My ears were deaf to issues of society and only heard the melodious laughter and majors of music.
Not a sound of a minor key or the cries of people’s pleads for help.
It was only me, my family, and friends in a round, yellow smiling Earth. Only me.
Everyone seemed to be at peace, I thought.
The bookshelves in my mind were still empty with a lack of knowledge of my surroundings.
Little did I know I had yet to see the gray side of the world.
After all, not everything could stay yellow.
Now, the protection glass I had was shattering day by day.
I could now see the whole world. Weights were on my shoulders as I had to continue carrying a heavy backpack of thoughts.
Slowly, I gathered information to add to the once empty bookshelves in my head.
The people’s needs for help seemed loud and clear, like a billboard sign with block letters.
The smiles now seemed as though they were hiding something beneath.
My world was mixed with colours of red, pitch black, yellow, and white.
The arms of the clock seemed to be moving faster and faster.
Were the choices I was making alright now?
It was not just me anymore in the world.
Behind the Poem:
I wrote this free verse poem due to a feeling of nostalgia. This poem takes a shift from childhood joy to growing older to see that the world is not perfect, like the way it was once perceived as a kid. With age comes more responsibility as I am sure many have heard of that before. I have also noticed that time goes by faster now than it did ten years ago. I also noticed that confidence slowly decreases as many grow older whereas a five-year-old’s confidence is bold. Based on my observations about life, I was able to contrast the worlds of growing up and childhood. I still reminisce about playing outside at the age of 6 and having an immense Disney obsession. Writing this poem also helped me spill out my thoughts. As someone who overthinks, I find writing poetry helps clear the mind. I suggest for you people to write free verse poetry as well whenever you need to get rid of your thoughts and let them run wild!
For feature image: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/739645938781288937/
