ADVICE TO A STUDENT

 

Hey,                                                                                                 

You're too young to be objective and conservative.

You'll have plenty of time to die later,

Compromise by compromise.

You haven't climbed a rainbow yet

Up above the clouds

With your feet off the ground.

If you start sliding earthward now,

You'll dig yourself into a hole,

And your self will be smothered somewhere in your self-respect,

Which gets kind of hollow in that case.

And it's hard for a hole to climb out of a hole

When the mind gets arthritic.

 

We have a disadvantage, you and I:

I too was born old.

But I've gotten younger each year since.

You can do it.  Just follow me

Back where everyone else is coming from.

Don't worry, they won't notice,

They can only look one way.

Besides, they're used to the scenery coming to meet them and rushing past them back to ever-creating youthfulness.

And they tell themselves, "We're making progress."

But hurry up.  Your first move doesn't have to show.

It can be a quiet decision deep within yourself.

Hurry, I can't wait.

I'm entering my second childhood; I'm catching my second wind,

I'll meet you back at the womb,

Where the secret of life is yet,

And where all directions are still possible.

Hurry, though.

While I'm there I may decide to get born all over again.

 

                                                                                    --Paul LeValley

 


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