Childish/Babies

Where did the adults go?

Everyday that passes I wonder

Where the teacher went and if

Anyone else notices that we’re all just

Children, pretending.

You’ve got these poor folks south of Richmond

Screaming about the children

And the taxes and fudge rounds

And the work they didn’t sign up for

And eventually you meet

Some cute girl at work who is actually

A mother of two and

Hates having her picture taken like she’s

A little kid still herself somehow

Raising more children, better than

Anyone I’ve ever met.

Somehow she makes you wish

You were a kid again.

My dad, he’s getting older

I see his mother in him when he

Gets tired. He is disappointed in the world

In all the same ways she was and

Still is. She wishes things were the way they were

When she was a kid, and

He feels the same.

Why do I feel like I’m the only one

Who is looking forward to growing up

And also somehow

Guarding the most childish soul

From a world of other children

Beating you up for crying.

For crying out loud, we’re all

Babies. This is our first time.