One of the wonderful things about life is that even though our bodies will inevitably grow old, if we are lucky, our mind can age much more slowly.

 

If we are smart enough to keep a little of our child inside us, we have the opportunity to still explore the world and find wonder in what it brings us, even as our bodies fade.

 

There is a certain radiance in people who have managed to sustain their inner child. And there is a very identifiable sense of grief in the looks and nature of those who have let their’s die.

 

The older we get, the more we are assaulted with the pains and sorrows and burdens of life. Sometimes the child is lost in the storms. We forget that the child needs care and feeding and consoling, just as does the adult.

 

We are often told to “grow up”…”to put away childish things”. I think I will miss mine too much to do that. He is too much a part of me. I shall let the world grow old around me, but I hope we shall still find wonder and beauty together, until the earth carries us both back to her bosom.

 

The Child (In the Cat’s Eye, 2009) is about my struggle with the issue of “growing up”.

 

Glenn K. Currie

 

The Child

 

People say that it is time

To leave the child.

That I am too old

To raise him properly.

 

I worry about the future.

What will happen to him?

Who will feed and care for him,

This child I leave behind?

 

Who will teach him life?

Share the wonders of the world,

Laugh with him through triumphs,

And cry with him at inequities?

 

Who will I turn to

When the days are tired and gray?

Who will show me innocence,

And the sweetness of dreams?

 

I think he is happy with me,

Even if he never grows up.

Perhaps I will keep him with me

Just a little bit longer.