The Truth


Everyone has it:
on the streets laughing
with friends at age 8,
or in the woods,
farm fields.
Life then was the joy
of the moment
and lively companions,
sunlight , inventiveness.

We lose all this:
a hammer comes down--
obey, obey, obey.
The eyes lose their glow,
the shoulders their suppleness,
the hips their swing.
50 years later we wonder
where it all went ?
At age 8 we could have
learned anything,
been anybody,
done anything.

At age 8 we were
so tricky,
so beautiful,
so undaunted,
all of civilization
could have fit
in our right front pocket,
the one with the hole in it.

At age 8 we should have
had a loving affair
every three weeks.
At age 8 we were
pure juice.

Quit talking.
Learn to sing
or play
on a garbage can top.
Or just listen
and learn to love
the silences.
The truth is still there,
somewhere.



With the permission of William Joyce