Based on Edna St Vincent Millay's:
Childhood Is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies

CHILDISH?


Childhood is a perpetual State
where nobody dies or ages -

Nobody who matters that is:
Friends, siblings, parents -
and especially not
your mischievous Granny!

... Sadly, the guinea pig
will contract arthritis;
the Greengrocer will grow limp
and the Florist fade.
The Aunts you never heard of will just
cease to send Christmas cards...

But Special People don't die, never fear:
Like fragrance they linger;
Like God, they are always here.

* * * *

To grow up is to die.

To read the Obituaries is death -
as is an over-concern
with furniture polish
and with washing the car...

Waxing lyrical about these
will surely advance old-age
quicker than watching paint dry.

Dead people have ears to hear
nothing but
the moth, rust and worm;

So, choose the cradle
and not the grave:

For the cradle rocks!