The Adult Child

Alas, the fast-forward reel of years,

and our bag, once light, now heavy with fears.

The grown-up child, a lost look in her eyes,
trying to tame a future that already dies.

Dark-lined eyes, a single tear escapes,
burrowing worries she desperately shapes
into silence, unheard. I froze,
seeing her future quietly decompose.

I yearned to hold her, future, all,
to calm the storm beginning to call.

A hollow smile, meant to set me free,
"Everything's alright," she uttered to me.
But something gnaws, a truth I can't quite see,
pieces of a puzzle that still perplex me.

Challenges rise, solutions hide away,
in quiet darkness, my heart will stay,
battling on, hoping for a brighter day,
the adult child walks on, searching for a ray.