Ouch

Like a band-aid,
Swift and sudden,
Does the thing that protect us,
Suddenly leave us,
To fend for ourselves,
Amidst a world of limitless unknowns.
A loss of innocence,
Finding out that life is truer,
Than it feels when you’re a kid.
Past the minor tragedies of Santa,
The Easter bunny,
And the tooth fairy,
Come the harder hitting facts,
That mom and dad are just as fallible as everyone else.
That death is forever.
Or, somehow more painful,
That the pet gerbil didn’t really escape.
He’s not living free amongst his people.
He’s dead,
And you were lied to.
It’s our first existential crisis,
Before we can even grasp at the straws,
Which enlighten us to know that existentialism is really a word.
Not just some Dr. Seuss,
Made up,
Nonsensical,
Whimdansical,
Nonmadeupicus,
Snuffelupagus.
Which, subsequently,
Was the name of the gerbil…
It’s hard being lied to by mom and dad,
For whatever reason,
In any circumstance.
They are the ones,
Who you are supposed to trust,
With everything,
All the time.
It doesn’t ruin a child’s life,
And those little white lies,
Aren’t ever big deals.
But something about mom and dad,
Stepping off of their pedestal,
Feels like the same kind of disappointment,
That Dorothy felt,
When the the great and powerful Oz,
Stepped out from behind his curtain,
And turned out to be,
Nothing more,
And nothing less,
Than an ordinary man.
Ouch.
It’s a little thing,
But it still hurts.