when we were kids

WERE KIDS When we were kids, life was a lot simpler than it is today, Devoid of the confusion and the madness we see displayed. When we were kids, we all sat and played together, Regardless of our colors our tribes, race or gender. Life was fun, we laughed & we learned The whole world was a big smile & we smiled in return. We were eager to share the gifts we received, We were free from care & strangers we were to greed. You can be all you want to be, we were told to dream And dream we did & believed we could achieve. We wanted to grown ups because we felt constrained, So we envied adults & longed to experience their pleasures & pains. But the older we became, The more the world seemed to change. Or did it remain the same, Was it just us that changed? Where did all the love go! Who replaced it with hatred? What happened to truth & justice I thought they were sacred Who funds the terrorists? Why all this hate & prejudice! There seems to be no end to poverty, And I thought violence was only meant for TV. Now with more mature eyes I see the world from a whole new perspective And it’s indeed a far cry From all we were taught about life & all it had to give Did age make us wiser or more foolish? Did all our learning make us more civilized or more brutish? Can somebody please show me the lessons? Is knowledge better than ignorance? What indeed is the essence? I do wish to return to innocence. I guess maturity just wasn’t what I expected All my childhood dreams seem to have been ‘adult’erated Scientists, philosophers, technology & art All to no avail, cos they still fail to heal what ails our hearts. As the world turns to dust we return, New life is born, What a pity to know they grow up to be what we become. The quest for survival the struggle continues Oh! How I wish we knew, That the utopia we seek lies in the heart of a child And we can rediscover it with a smile If only we could see the world as once did, When we were kids