Cycle

Cycle
by JB Lacaden

Life starts with opening your eyes
And with the feeling of waking up from
A magical dream.
It starts with sitting in front of
The TV, watching Sesame Street all morning.
Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner using your hands.
Making a mess and not cleaning it up.
Saying words only you can understand.
It starts with your heart fully alive, your soul radiant.

Life then enters school.
Finger paint and ABC's.
Where you'll learn that the Wolf
Was always the villain, and how
Little Red Riding Hood and the
Three little pigs escaped his evil clutches.
Where you will meet new friends.
Eating using proper utensils.
Where, during the cold nights of Halloween,
You’d put on your cowboy costume and
go door to door collecting candies.
And when December comes you'd
Rush outside and play with the snow.
Lying on the soft, white blanket of snow.
Throwing imperfectly shaped snow balls.
It is when you believed in Santa Clause and
The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.
It continues with your heart alive, your soul innocent.

Life goes on. You continue to live.
Your sweet angelic voice disappears.
Your face slowly losing its roundness and softness.
This is when you have to go to High School.
This is when quadratic equations will be learned,
And you learn that we are not alone.
That somewhere, in this vast universe,
There is someone thinking that they are not alone.
This is when Santa Clause dies,
And the Tooth Fairy was actually your parents.
This is when you love all the girls you see
But telling each one of them your heart is only theirs.
This is when pimples and muscles and knowledge appear.
This is when your heart weakens, your soul losing its life.

High School and College will pass... and life goes on.
You will graduate and will become one of the
Faceless individuals of society.
This is when you will work to be somebody,
To gain more money. You will work because
It is what adults do. It is how their
Fathers lived and how their fathers' fathers lived.
You will wake up on a sunny morning and put on your
Suit and tie and your polished shoes. Then you
Will kiss your wife goodbye and drive your way
To your office. You will go home at night
And eat dinner together with your family.
Tell jokes, and laugh.
It ends with you going to bed and sleep, waiting
For the unending cycle to repeat itself once again.
This is when you tell your kids that
Santa is real, so is the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.
And your kids will believe you. Kids always believe.
This is when your heart dies and your soul becomes a stranger.

Life ends with you lying on bed
Surrounded by your loved ones and
The people who thought themselves
As members of your loved ones.
It will end with you weak.
Your skin all wrinkled up
And your eyes going dim.
Your head will go bald and you will always go sick.
It will end with you and Death face to face.
It will end.
After your final breath of air you'll die.
You will open your eyes and be in a different place.
This is when your heart welcomes you back,
Your soul becoming your friend.This is when you go back to that magical dream.