Drudgery of Adulthood

Then curious, joyous, hungry, playful

Now dull, plaintive, worrying, fearful

Those days filled with books, football, trees, friends and family

These days screens, lists, money, unfulfilled plans and winters chilly

The world was small then, just a few dusty roads

But we were all kings and queens

Somewhere the world became big

But I never felt like I belonged much after my teens

Time flies, people die, relationships change

Comfort of the past becomes a fading memory

Body becomes rusty, mind feels like a bird in a cage

Can buy anything, go anywhere, but never feel free

The days were short then, the years long,

Now it is the other way round

The silence of today is deafening

I don’t know which way I am bound