Growing Up is a Trap

The years of childhood are shaky and indefinite.
You never know how many you will have.
Too often they end too soon.
Society calls you an adult at eighteen.
That doesn't mean you haven't already grown up.

Growing up is a trap.
It's forsaking fun for responsibility.
It's giving in to the darkness of the world around you.
It's getting rid of the part of you that most dares dream.

Far too often, childhood ends far too soon.
Almost as often it can come back.
Maybe the laughter of any child will trigger it.
Maybe the laughter of your own.
Maybe something else, entirely unknown.

Regardless of the cause, the effect will be the same.
You'll give off that childish laughter
As you play some childish game.
And you'll know in that moment, some things
Some things never have to change.

Growing old is necessary,
But growing up is a trap.
There's no reason you can't get the spirit of childhood back.
You can't avoid responsibilities
And all that with them you gain.
But you don't have to lose the light and laughter.

   That,
          I think,
                    Should remain.