Ten years had come and gone as I reached that same old porch
I chuckled to myself as I saw the still missing stair
My childhood seemed to come back
I see the white bearded man sitting in the rocking chair, wondering where all his hair had gone
He points to the chair beside him, since his legs are too weak now and I am no longer that small
As I fall into the short wooden chair it feels like I never left

Everyday I spent waiting in that chair for him to come home and play
Of course we’d always do what I wanted
The lemonade stands on the corner
The swims in the dirty old lake
The bike rides down the big hill

He turns toward me with a slight grin before asking why I ever left
He says he and my mother gave me everything
From love and care to happiness and kindness

He was not too happy when I did go
It was hard at first to explain why
But I knew he wouldn’t understand
He couldn’t understand

But my mother did, she knew
I couldn’t be trapped here forever
I needed to find things out on my own
I needed to grow

He used to tell me that everything would be easy
That I shouldn’t worry
Because I didn’t have to grow up
Since, he never did

I thought to myself
Since I’ve left I have grown
I take care of myself and work for my own things


I tried to explain for the last time
Hoping he would understand
I wanted my own life
One where I could be independent, be an adult

I look over at the sad drooping face of my father and say
You can’t be a child forever
At some point you must grow up
So I decided it was time

There is a balance between childhood and adulthood
My father just hasn’t found it yet