The year passed by in a blur
Of stress
And crying
And joy and laughing
And all the moments that signify teenage years
Are coming to an end and adulthood approaches.
That the safe cocoon of youth
Is no longer big enough for us
And even starts to reject us a little.
There are key moments picked out in my mind
Nights of sleeping next you in that high room
Cold mornings of your smile as we opened the front door to the frost
Days with tea and toast and hot chocolate
As we sat, sweaty from the afternoon
And laughing at silly things that only we knew.
Endless mornings draw together where we all sat in that hall
Me just apart from you all
And listened to inspiration
Or not,
Depending on the day,
But still we sat together.
And that last night
So uneventful as we all went our separate ways to bed
And the next day as we all got drunk together
In the walls that before had encased our childhood
We laughed and smiled and cried
And thanked god
And each other
For all those spectacular sights
Those days that made us giddy with hope and friendship
Those nights that made us weep and ache
With the pain of one another
Oh it was so glorious and so strange and so perfect,
That no words can really cover how grateful I am
To all of you,
the shepherds of my youthfulness.