YOUTH

by jadyn ocampo

Youth is something that has always been sought

The question is not whether one should search for it or not

But rather deep in the asking of what is at stake

If we cannot find a way to avoid our ultimate fate

The quest to be young again is a song listened to by all walks of life

Gilgamesh, Ponce de Leon, and Mother Gothel have all engaged in this strife

We want to be young because we want more time

“Once upon a time” compared to “The end” is more pleasing to the mind

We enjoy life and want to live as long as we can

In fact the idea that one day I will see my last sunset makes me very sad

I would love to spend a century on the beach

A century in a forest with mountains to hike in reach

A century in the city surrounded by lights and hustle

A century in the country at a cute church and on a porch solving puzzles

But the reason all these dreams are ones worthy to pursue

Is because not all of them will come true

I do not have multiple centuries to spend in di erent scenery

Life is a car that can go far, but is still just fallible machinery

Because one day you will run out of gas

One day you will place last

But the idea that our youth is life’s highlight

Stems from the fact that youth is finite

It matters because one day it won’t

Air is beautiful because one day you could choke

Water is needed because droughts are a possibility

Being young is a blessing because death is the last sermon of life’s ministry

We appreciate our prime

Because there will come a time

When we decay

And we will know what it’s like when a sunset turns gray

But we will look back on our youth with gratitude

Because we never wasted a second searching for eternal life on lines of latitude

Those who seek to be young forever

Missed the whole point of youth all together

It is not something we should hold on to with a tight grip

It is something to be enjoyed and then released with bliss

If forever was something we could always reach out and touch

It would not mean as much

So make the most of every youthful second your divine gives

And know death is what it means to live