The Ways of Our Past Do Not Have to Become Our Future

I was taught 

to believe 

in Santa Claus,

the Easter Bunny,

God

And I did believe

in all of them,

for a time

I was taught

to wait at least

thirty minutes

after eating

before I jumped 

into the water

And I listened,

for a time 

I was taught

homosexuality 

was weird

and wrong

And I believed that,

for a time 

I was taught

to believe 

that other animals 

exist just so

we could eat them

And I did eat them,

for a time

I was taught

“i before e,

except after c,”

But it didn’t 

even work

for my own name

I was taught 

“the unexamined life 

is not worth living”

So I tried 

to examine,

to seek

my own truths

Along the way,

as we all should,

as we all must,

I changed,

I grew,

I evolved 

If advanced knowledge

and new perceptions

cannot inspire us

to freshly examine

old beliefs,

then why bother 

growing up

at all?

5 Jan 2019