When We Were Young Poem by Lynn W. Petty

Do you remember when, when we were young?
We had no doubt, our lives would never change.
We held "forever" in our hands. We wrung
All pleasures from each day. There was no range
Of view or thought denied. We had no truck
With time. "What ever was, what ever is, is mine."
I stand in disbelief, I'm wonderstruck,
To think we thought the world our concubine.
The older set, whom now, we hold so dear,
Advised that such conceit and arrogance
Were preludes to our fall. We had no ear
For words as these; old age and petulance,
Conditions of their era. So, we lived
Our self-indulgent ways. Oblivious
To those who loved us most, mores outlived
We thought. What else but being envious
Of youth; of freedoms that we took from life?
"But, what one takes from living one repays, "
They warned. Now, they are gone, their words were rife
With truths; forewarning of those years and days,
The struggle to maintain, to just remain
At balance with the challenges we face.
But, if I heard them say those words again,
Would I accept their value with the grace
Of understanding that respect demands?
Oh, yes, they only tried to save us from
Ourselves, the bludgeoning that life commands.
And, now, I too recite each axiom
That they have left. "You are as you will think."
"The greatest sin of all is waste of time."
‘The path is straight and narrow." We would wink
And let them go, as though unheard. Like rhyme,
They meter in my mind, returning when
I try protecting those I love, who seem,
Like I, resentful of intrusions. Then,
Their living is their own; their path; their dream,
With all the altercations there within.
How hard to see their bloody brow,
The two-by-four of living ‘cross the shin.
Why don't they ask advise of "what or how? "
Maturity dictates, its theirs to learn.

And, now, we are the older set who watch,
As we were watched when we were next at turn.
We pray that they will choose the way, not blotch
The color of their life at choice's "Y",
That junction on the dusty road of chance,
That point of choice; decisions, "nay or aye."
We must release and let them go. Advance
Their learning by the cutting of the tie,
Accepting their behavior as a friend.
They dance a different dance than you or I,
As we had danced our dance to comprehend.
Release parental fetters, hold your tongue!
Do you remember when, when we were young?