At Seventeen …

On the eve of my eighteenth birthday, I wrote a sonnet for my future self, so that when I was older and wiser, I could read it and look back on my youth and smile.

Several decades later, here I am, on the eve of another significant birthday. So I’m re-reading that sonnet, and looking back on my youth, and smiling.

Here’s to all ‘people of a certain age’, who like to remember and smile.

…………………………………………

At Seventeen

Do you remember the happiness of your distant youth?
Can you feel the madness its memory brings?
Sweet was the madness in its reckless search for truth,
In tune to its faith, like a lark that eternally sings.

Remember those days; they’ll never, ever return.
They’re like a mad wind: when it’s gone, it’s gone, it’s passed by.
Your youth has passed by, but still there is joy while you yearn.
Cherish that memory, love it, don’t let it die.

Can you still feel the passions and hopes of that dream?
It was no dream – the dream is now, while you weep.
In your children, the stars still whisper and gleam;
Look in their eyes – their laughter keeps yours from its sleep.

Do you remember those days you’d never lose or give?
I am that memory: in its happiness and truth I live!

Wendy Skorupski