Chapters of Life

Chapters of Life

By Stephanie Vanderboom



Life is like a book: there are many chapters.

The first chapters are simple,

Happiness and ease in one big bundle.

People hold you steady as you fight life’s dangers.

No worries or troubles overtake you.

You hardly ever feel blue.

These are the easy years, it’s true.



Life is like a book: there are some lengthy chapters.

Time for trivia, tests, and trials.

Sometimes it feels like walking miles.

But I’m held here by my captors

As they teach me morality and all that matters.

Endless notes, paper after paper.

Just hanging on a wing and prayer.



Life is a book: there’s always an end to the chapters.

This one draws to a close and I realize

It wasn’t always easy, but it gave me a prize

Of knowledge and friends, without whom I’d be in tatters.

Friends I hope I can take to the end

Because I’m not sure what lies ahead.



Life is a book: a new chapter is about to begin

And I don’t know how to react

It feels like it’s all happening so fast.

It almost has me shaking.

I feel as though I’m running out of time

Yet I’m expected to make another perfect rhyme.



Life is a book: I want to reread my favourite chapters

But they’re lost in the mist of time

And it almost feels like a crime

That the good years fade away

While the bad ones will always stay

And new ones continue to come, day after day.



Life is a book: the plot thickens.

I’m thrown into a new environment

Another level of confinement.

Will I feel the same when this chapter reaches an end?

The thought of what’s next causing so much dread?

Will the years feel like a blur

Or feel much too slow?

I’m unsure which I’d prefer,

And I want to know.



Life is a book: some chapters are short.

The chapter that felt long and sickly

Now feels as though it’s ending much too quickly.

I’ve been pushed ahead, my legs unsteady

And I feel unready

As the people behind me simply shout,

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”