Growing Up Poem by Sally DeSmet Trueblood

Your world at six was a carousel of pure gold.
Smitten with grassy parks, make-believe toys, and puppies to hold.

Life at six was a circus of days seized with unbridled glee,
And nights held off by the command of a child's mind carefree.

Your world at ten was a merry-go-round of leisure and books.
The ups and downs of lofty dreams and trips you took.

Life at fourteen was spent with numbers, dates, and facts immersed.
The slow and deliberate declaration of a youth reversed.

As a child you loved to hold out your arms and run,
Until exhausted you would fall and lie down in the warm sun.

Now you walk more quietly as you go about the world to find the key,
Looking, search, through the layers to find the girl you want to be.

The two extremes, a child and a girl, and not wanting to leave both,
you lie down in the middle, which gives the greatest hope.