Childish things

Childish things
 
Maybe we’ve outgrown our playthings;
the borders of our fenced-in yard.
 
Maybe our tastebuds have grown stale
with sweetness, our treats no longer a treat.
 
The swing in the backyard goes
back and forth, up and down.
 
Our stick horse takes us round and round,
round and round – and we end up nowhere.
 
We hesitate to try the latch on the gate
to seek a new adventure.
 
This is the only world we’ve ever known.
Everything else is just a rumor. 
 
Safer to return again and again
to our familiarities;
 
to try to squeeze from our weathered toys 
new bits of joy and enchantment.
 
O child, perhaps it is time (as the scriptures say)
              to put away childish things –
to step beyond the boundaries of your known world.