Life Child

LIFE CHILD

Life Child, how persists your dream?
Do you still in innocence scheme?
Never hungry.
Never cold.
Not escaping from the mould.

Cushioned comfort lines your way,
No scratches from your day of play.
Missing this world.
Missing that.
Cream-filled, smart, contented cat.

But wondrous Child, what do you miss?
For wisdom is much more than this.
It's more than spending,
More than art.
It's more than love or friends apart.

It isn't weaving cloth from gold,
Or painting words with colours bold,
It's taking all these gifts you own,
And tackling problems, all alone.
It's scaling peaks and riding troughs,
It's hunting mice and swimming lochs,
It's facing challenge - winning through -
Although you may be battered too.
You'll need your loved ones with you when
You venture from your cosy den.
But when achievement's in your eyes
You'll know you've won the greatest prize.

So Life Child, in your warm cocoon,
It's time to wake and seek the moon,
To hunt, to snarl,
To weep and sing,
And God will give you everything.

Cassy Allen
XII/87