Rollercoaster Poem by Lindsey Priest

Sometimes I feel
That we never stop,
On this rollercoaster
We climb to the top,
Then squeal all the way down!

Foolishly,
We start again,
This moving staircase
To ascend,
Without taking a breath or two.

How much of life
Do we really miss,
When climbing a ladder
Just like this?
Is it the really important bits?

I look at my daughter
Fast asleep,
Comfortable
And dreaming deep,
As she has for twenty years

Did I let those years
Just pass me by
As I kept on reaching
For the sky?
What good did that do me?

But she would
Have grown up anyway,
Left our home
To go away.
Find herself — but did I find me?

Perhaps the rollercoaster
Does some good,
Keeps our mind ticking over
The way that it should.
Without that constant journey
Up and down…..