Why?

Why did I have to grow up
Why couldn't I have stayed a child
Why did I have to learn the meaning of hate
Why have to experience heartache,
to contemplate the meaning of life when all around me people die
to fall in love when it doesn't last
to worry about the future when today I could die
to lose my innocence to a world full of pain
to look behind a smile for malice
to search every compliment for an insult.
Why do I have to grow
Why can't I stay vibrant
Must I become rickety with age
Hair greyed and eyesight dimmed
back bowed and teeth gone
With friends dead, leaving me behind
Kids grown,facing their future alone.