When I have wrung the sweetness from my youth
And gained the wisdom earned from passing days,
Sad knowledge should then outweigh naive truth
With which upon the world I once did gaze.
Then may I bid farewell to childhood grace
That once adorned the world in fantasy,
And welcome then instead the moveless face
—Of life beleaguered in reality.
For misspent youth I then shall make defense
And proudly show the pearls such years have gleaned,
And in so doing then make recompense
For reckless strife that marred my younger schemes.
Glad folly can enlighten, this believe—
But that which pleases heart, the soul may grieve.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.