Seasons, Seasonings, Seasoned

by ST, mid 1980s

Seasons

"He's going through a stage," Is all that need be said,
And so say they all
Of all a child goes through:
Innocence, importance, and impudence
Are played and played again--
By parts and turns--authority's role
Varies as protector, tyrant, friend.

Seasonings

Then learning, earning, and making,
And stirring up the pot--
The young taste life and love--
Some like it cold, some relish it hot . . . 
Mild or medium or merciless
They seek the "spice of life":
Man grows into husbandman,
And woman becomes a wife.

Seasoned

A parent as an experienced child--
though the child thinks he has forgot--
Nods as grandfather wisely counsels his son
With counsel that still is unsought.
Re-tired or re-tread the old man rests or runs--
The pace is slower as the body lowers,
But fiercely he fights on--
To never leave, or to leave behind some mem'ry of his flow'ring.