AFTER A WHILE

I seem to be learning my lessons late in life - at least compared to my friends and classmates. It's too late to change things now and I must live with the die that has been cast. That's the bleak side but there is a brighter side that I try to concentrate on and make the most of what I have left. I'm at that age that you can preach and advise the younger generation, but they will do as most of us do, ignore the words and experience and make their own mistakes. I think life should be reversed. Why can't we suffer, make mistakes, learn and then put all of that good knowledge to work toward the end and enjoy one's aging years. But it is not to be. Why am I the only one that has regrets and passed opportunities that cannot be turned around.

AFTER A WHILE

After a while, you learn the suble difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open,
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,
And learn to build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in midflight.
And after a while, you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
In stead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure..
That you really are strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn and learn
With every goodbye, you learn.

-Veronica A Shoffstall