i could see the words on the tip of your tongue
and with a sigh, you said: "if we are young,"
but my dear, why would you wonder?
haven't you danced in the rain and the thunder?
haven't you laughed at the calico cat
endlessly chasing the peppered rat?
haven't you felt the sweet temptation
of escaping into the beauty of imagination?
haven't we still been playing pretend?
waiting for our fragile hearts to mend?
see, we may be concerned with counting our age
but youth was never meant to stay in a cage:
if you unlock your inner child,
and let yourself get a little more wild,
perhaps you'll find life more worthwhile
and it won't feel so foreign when you smile.
my dear, what i'm trying to say,
is that youth doesn't have to go away--
there's no "if"--only when
will you decide to let youth back in?
relax and let your spirits soar
release yourself from your bedroom drawer
where you've stashed away all your memories
of how things could and should be.
and in the playhouse of my mind
i hope that you will someday find
that no matter how old we may be
at heart, we're still young and free
