flower petals

1.

it’s subtle, hard to pinpoint or pin down

there was no BEFORE or 

AFTER,

no alarm to rouse you from the tepid slumber

of childhood. 

no radio 

announcer that 

proclaimed the 

end of an era. 

it creeps up on you

(adulthood, i mean). 

it’s like...

dipping your toes into an inviting sea

but before you know it, you are engulfed in miles and miles of water.

2.

science says that the brain doesn’t stop maturing until age 25.

(conservative estimates shoot past 30)

cognitive development is but 

one

variable in the adulthood equation and its complexity

sometimes it’s when, in a fluorescent supermarket aisle,

standing between the biscuits and the canned beans, you are the object pointed at

by a four year old’s chubby finger 

and when the child’s mother says to “let the LADY through”.

that’s when you know.

yes — it’s when you suddenly command

more respect than you’ve ever had before 

and it’s when you realize that this life 

IS YOUR OWN TO LIVE!

3.

imagine a flower with a thousand petals.

maybe a million.

let’s say infinity, just to

be on the safe side.

each petal

 marks 

each transition 

from CHILD to ADULT. 

for some, some petals fall sooner. 

(for some, much TOO soon).

petals overlap. it’s messy. life usually is.

as i wake every morning to the sterile 

sound of iPhone alarm, 

my petals still fall. 

i hope i keep the important ones—

that through the sea of 

powers and responsibilities of adulthood, 

i can cling onto the elusive sense of wonder

that makes life this worthwhile.