Once we were children
We liked to have mum
kiss it better
Why was the bed damp in
the morning?
We want to be a
little bit bigger
Wanted to be that bit
taller, that's all!
To stop wearing
shorts, having plats
Wearing long skirts,
trousers and all that
We were allowed to
play out, until it was dark
Then we walked to
school all on our own!
We sneaked things we
we're never allowed to eat
We thought to be
clever was every thing
Wanted mum and dad to
always care
Never thought what we
did frightened them
Then we started to do
more things on our own
Feeling more grown up
every day
Going to the movies
on our own
Seeing girls and boys
in a different ways
Though we were still
just children in lots of ways
Then our bodies they
begin to feel sort of strange
And the child started
to fade, fade completely away
The change to adult was
on its way
We never noticed when
the whole thing started
Never knew when the
child departed
It’s gone away now,
and now we know
We can't go back, we
don't need to grow
Though sometimes we'd
like to dream again
To be children again
and have the childhood things
In some ways I think
it would be good, good for a day
Then I remember how I
wanted to be tall
And how I got here
and that's about all
I am past it now and
it’s all right
I don't need a light
at night
------------------
Would not it be nice
to think like a child
Just once in a while,
to remember the way
We used to play at
life, it was not real of course
But now, well it’s
real of course
Always remember how
to play, it gets you through the day
Stephen. W.T. Read (2010)
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exercised, without the permission of Stephen W T Read of Unit 8/40 Storey Street
Curtin Canberra ACT 2605 Australia
