Growing Down

Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I grew up.
I wasn’t drawn, twirling and climbing
towards the light of adulthood.
I was pushed from below,
propelled by the seed of birth
to escape the dark earth of childhood.
When I reached the place of up,
where I expected to find a plateau
with a gradual descent,
a growing down,
I found instead a pinnacle,
the top of a tiny island
with no path down,
only a plunge
back to the earth.