we must not forget how often a child is not a child,
how often a spit-soaked handshake means:
"i'm trusting you not to **** this up"
and then suddenly, as sudden as the cutback of a razor scooter
(may god protect those in low-top sneakers),
everything is all sorts of ****** up
(including us)

because in this life, in this interstice between birth and death,
we are dastardly

we are cowards,
afraid of singing in public and laughing out loud,
too good for a daydream or two

we forget how to be youthful
(in truth, i disappoint the past me all the time),
forget how to keep pinky promises
and we most often forget that it is us
who cause a child to no longer be a child.