Rise and shine, your big day has arrived,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new day\u2019s breaking, time for that grand entrance, your bio\nclock\u2019s off and running,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom and Pops, they sure were smitten, in their eyes your\npresence is a blessing,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though they might be thinking opposites when you\u2019re trolling\nwith their sleeping patterns!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But all jokes aside know that you are loved, that they\u2019ll\nwalk through fire for ya,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make sure you\u2019re healthy, nourished and a very happy\ncamper,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The significance of what they\u2019re doing doesn\u2019t quite\nregister, but hours from now it will,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before they know it you\u2019re communicating clearly, moving\nindependently, growing exponentially on the daily, seemingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day progresses, the sun rises further,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morning at its peak and you\u2019re raring to go, practically\nbouncing off walls,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once an infant, now a child, some degree of independence and\nstrength,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plays right into your favour, those energy levels seem never\nending,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier just an infant now a living advertisement of the\nhuman body\u2019s capabilities,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Running, crawling, jumping, rolling, throwing, catching,\noccasionally crying when ya trip then scrape that knee,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gonna have to start school eventually, it sucks but if it\u2019s\nany consolation, might seem scary at first but for Ma and Pops also kinda\nnerve-wracking,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But soon you\u2019ll make friends, find your tribe for life if\nyou\u2019re fortunate,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Might as well be siblings from different parents, doing damn\nnear everything together,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the minutes turn you\u2019re getting bigger, a growing\nawareness of the journey ahead of you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the main priority is living a life carefree as young\u2019uns\nare wont to do,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides keeping those grades up and your room tidy, responsibilities\nconfined to fun times with friends and family,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was exciting hours prior now seems beneath you, you find\nyourself wishing to be bigger,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like your guardians, free from any rules it seems, free\nto do as they please,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you\u2019re not privy to their hustling on the daily to keep\nyou happy and healthy,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some nights coming home drained, yet still making time with\nyou to play,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Checking to make sure you\u2019re head of the class, put you back\nin line when you\u2019re acting like an ass,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Listen when they tell you never to take these hours for\ngranted,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll find out soon enough, how much clout such advice been\ncarrying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Closer to midday now, the past few hours have been most kind,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crossing into teens, a taste of the world once beyond your\nreach, soon you\u2019ll see, the big ones ain\u2019t driving down Easy Street,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slapped with more and more responsibilities, life\u2019s no\nlonger loose and carefree,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those grades a new battleground, better be diligent or\nyou\u2019ll be found out,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assessments and exams carrying extra heft, outside class\nyou\u2019re likely to make as many enemies as friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some folks be wolves in sheep\u2019s clothing, fading innocence\ngiving way to ruthlessness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s your early taste of politics and manipulation, flexing\nand comparisons, big folk games that\u2019ll make your head shake,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Popular among the teens, it only gets worse from here,\nunfortunately,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What your folks done taught and brought you up with in the\nmorning can and will be challenged, will you evolve or remain defiant?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ma and Pa can only do so much, the world and your\nsurroundings will do their part, where temptations were once of the sweet and\nsugary type, perhaps a few white lies, might now involve escapades and\nsubstances of the harmful, trouble-making type,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thinking \u2018bout the opposite gender, where once they repulsed\nand repelled, they\u2019ve all but taken over your mind, thoughts of the sweet and\nnasty kind,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Years behind those gates under the teachers\u2019 care won\u2019t last\nforever, gotta plan for life outside sooner or later,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To jumpstart what could well be your life\u2019s work or get you\na degree first?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make use of your newfound freedom to venture beyond that\ncomfort zone, see what else the world has to offer,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go get what you\u2019re worth, have no fear of failure, start\nover as many times as necessary, the world is your oyster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Past the midpoint, here comes the afternoon sky,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drifting further from morning and closer towards night,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier on lived for the material, to fly high your main ambition,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More pals and hangers-on than you can count, living for the\npresent was what life\u2019s all about,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now it\u2019s sunset and all your treasures are in storage\ncollecting dust,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That circle reduced in circumference, whatever bubble you\u2019d\ncreated long gone bust, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No need to be ashamed, it\u2019s part of the journey, look at you\nnow, reinvented through maturity,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Equipped to make moves on your own, Mom and Pops can take a\nbackseat,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their roles now that of support system than guardian, up to\nyou to dance to your own beat,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you\u2019d found someone to call your partner for life, had\nyou some little ones to carry on your legacy,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe you\u2019re flying with no co-pilot, marching to beats\nsuited only to your rhythm,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those aforementioned little ones the closest that you\u2019ll get\nto turning back time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Been there and done that already, you\u2019re more than qualified\nto be their guide,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do your job right you can live through \u2018em vicariously,\nmaybe turn \u2018em onto what lit your world up bright and sparkly,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hustling day in, day out as your folks once did, lessons\nthey drummed finally sinking in,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadly, they might check out at any time, but if they\u2019d\nraised you right you\u2019ll continue to thrive,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back on earlier hours wistfully, the world seemed\npure under the sun\u2019s full bloom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But nothing gold can stay, so said Mr. Frost, as the sun\u2019s sinking\nyou feel yourself turning grey,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day\u2019s more or less half-over, minutes ticking by quicker,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They should have told you earlier the more you acquire the\nshorter your hours,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never too long in the tooth to learn something new, stay\ncurious if you want to slow down,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep in touch with whom you were earlier, they\u2019ll never let\nyou down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sun finally sets, blue skies and white clouds melting\ninto dark night,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Been a long day of triumphs and trials, you\u2019d come a long\nway since sunshine,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young ones on their own time zone, perhaps got little\nones of their own,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clock\u2019s turned back again, just like that, for you and for\nthem,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day\u2019s almost over but your time ain\u2019t over yet,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will you push on and keep rocking or call it a day then set\noff for bed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Time may have ravaged you physically, actions once\neffortless now require some doing,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Others, still, might be trapped in a fog, left a shell of an\nindividual once lively and strong,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can\u2019t play like you did in the morning, those joints done\ntook a beating, but anything\u2019s possible, still, as long as that spirit\u2019s\nwilling,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barring life\u2019s intervention these are your second set of\ngolden years,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d paid your dues, that ticker\u2019s still good, might as\nwell go out in a blaze of glory,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never stop learning or growing, not until St. Pete comes\ncalling,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stay hungry, curious and willing as you\u2019d been in the\nmorning, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break the rules, defy the cynics and doomsayers, you needn\u2019t\nbe confined to your rocker,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be of service while you\u2019re able, that belt has room for\nextra notches, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Give \u2018em miles to recall once you\u2019re finally laid to rest, it\u2019ll\nbe genuine tears shed for a life well-led, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fly high now, knowing that you did all that, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your day ends, more new ones begin, the cycle continues like\nit always has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rise and shine, your big day has arrived, A new day\u2019s breaking, time for that grand entrance, your bio clock\u2019s off and running, Mom and Pops, they sure were smitten, in their eyes your presence is a blessing, Though they might be thinking opposites when you\u2019re trolling with their sleeping patterns! But all jokes aside … <\/p>\n