That Was Then, This is Now

Then: The sun rises. My world is small. Everything has yet to happen. One day, I'll go to school and learn important things - Like my brothers - I wish I was a year older. I wonder, "who am I?" The whole wide world teaches me. There's inside, with mom, and my big brothers - And the record player. The magic transpires when the little platter spins, And I find my heart. It sprouts, sings, flies me to my friends - John Henry, Ol' Dan Tucker, Clementine, and Puff - And pretty waltzes, mom likes them too. There's outside - where I find peace. One day, they'll be sorry. The morning air, so bright and clear. Exotic plants and animals everywhere - all in my backyard - The sun shines through sycamore leaves, swinging and swaying in the breeze. On the ground, light shapes and shadows dance, Keeping time to a growing me. Leaves and branches stretch. Butterflies, gaily dressed, trace a fascinating path - Tour guides to my backyard universe. The black and brown bumblebees - Scary, fuzzy, fat, and cute. Below, the earth's wiggling treasures - Under rocks, under the dirt. Pill bugs, shy and scared. Potato bugs in ugly glory. Oops, I didn't mean for my shovel to cut that worm! But it's OK, now there's two. Above, the sky - How high does it go? Forever? Forever, a mystery, forever... Buttermilk clouds Look like the beanstalk giant's floor, Or maybe the floor of heaven. God blinks. Heaven looms. Everything has happened. I don't miss the 40-year career - The late-night phone calls and sixty-hour weeks. I wonder "who am I?" I wish I was a year younger. Nobody has discovered the fountain of youth. My only hope - a grandchild - Don't tell my son. Now, my grandchildren are the kids I tutor math - They don't know it. Most don't care about triangles or sums. They're learning who they are. For them, everything is yet to come. I've done, for better or worse, all I can. Everything has happened. The world is small. The sun sets - Now.