Old Forever Young
by Odin Roark

The young child asks
why?
The adolescent asks
must I?
The adult asks
why not?

Many ask
“Why must it be this way?
Why not skip over the effort?”

Even though at times
there are no teachers,
those promised leaders
of mind,
soul,
and heart--


Innately we know
discovery
is joy,
experiencing disappointment
is but a lesson.
Failure,
but a prelude to success.

For does not the natural mind
pick its nourishment,
ravenous intake of all manner
creating its own reality,
even at times with reluctant submission?

Some would say
the fortunate see through the mongers of power,
beyond swirling seductive sweetness on a stick,
the spin of packaged elixirs of dominion,
always in bright colors unreal,
coming not from rainbows
but from refractions of an oil-slick viral dis-ease.

Would that the magic of youthful curiosity
be reborn from a cocoon of patience
discovering anew life's sugarless candy,
avoiding both the taste of false victory
and the malaise of its inherent decay.

To once again hasten
the ever questioning child
the yesterdays relegated to lesser status,
to now deliver a needed bounty
void of
“I know,”
opting instead for
“I wonder.”

Such is to continue without fear,
to live by not just staying alive,
but being alive.

So say the old forever young.