Growing Up Poem by Goddy Nana Mens

So here we are…
Living the teenage dream
Boys' chest broadening, voice breaking
Girls growing beautiful and more insecure
Hating bodies they once adored
Seeing faults that not be
Worries mounting
Cares abounding
Disappointed
Unsure if this is the dream we have so looked forward to
Reality a while ago had been much more magical
O so magical
And I miss it…
I miss the days we were always innocent
The times we were nothing but cute and decent
When we never knew what we were doing
Or even if we did, the world always assumed we didn't
I miss the days when I was me and truly me
The days Life was simple and the future was a distant fantasy
I miss the days when we did not mean what we say
And grudges lasted only a day
The times when all was fun, sun and sweat
When we had few needs and all were met
The world was one big adventure
What was fear?
All a boy needed was a full belly and his peers
And then we began to grow…
We discovered secrets we did not want to know
Grudges began to ran deeper
And suddenly, the world was void of adventure
Then he began to stick to her
And he and he and he and he too
Everyone had to get a pair
Then in came the crushes we couldn't handle
The Big Circle had begun to crumble…
So the vicious tale unfolds
And the childhood bonds can no more hold
Us into the tight-knit cult that we once were
And the pain of loss causes our first true tear
For the first time, we are angry, envious, jealous
We are hating, gossiping, snorting
What happened to us?
But the answer tolls in me -
Growing up…
From the lores, I know there is more
More hate, more pain, more tears to pour
More lies, pretense, disappointments - heartbreaks
Getting a degree, getting a job, paying bills - headaches
Suddenly everything has a thing to do with age
The family is pestering you into marriage
Which might even probably end in a divorce
And the wife will take away things of yours…
Growing up…
So here I am
Stranded on the horizon of childhood
And the dawn of adulthood
The former forever lost to me
And the latter is where I dread to be…
But however old we grow
We cannot let t hose memories go
Of the days when our actions we always innocent
When we were nothing but cute and decent
When we never knew what we were doing
Or even if we did, the world always assumed we didn't
The days when Life was simple
When our faces had not a pimple
When the world had no defect
And everything was perfect
The days when we always looked forward to the sun coming up
Without a clue that it meant growing up…