The Meanings of Life

Perhaps the reason humans have yet to ascertain the meaning of life
Is that we keep looking to find the meaning of life.
We're all so eager to proclaim our individuality,
And yet we continue to search for a universal answer as to the reason we're here.

The old man sits on an equally old porch swing.
The meaning of his life has passed,
The one he fought so hard to bring to being.
Now, the meaning of his life is simply to live.

The newly single parent sits in their too-empty living room.
They don't know how they're going to get through this,
How they're going to keep going,
But they don't give up.
The meaning of their life is asleep in a bedroom upstairs.

The newly admitted college student stares up at the brick establishment.
They have been ready for years, and finally they're here.
Heart filled with ambition, they enter the building.
The meaning of their life is waiting for them.

The screaming baby is brought into existence.
The little one is completely ignorant of the world's cruelty,
And of its beauty.
The meaning of their life is something they have yet to decide.