Looking Ahead 

By Sydney Reese

Looking, looking ahead 

Thanksgiving, then Christmas

Semester 1, then semester 2 

Graduating soon, then growing up fast 

Looking, looking ahead 

College apps, then college 

Anxiety, then dread 

Packing up, then leaving

Looking, looking ahead 

Freshman year, then senior year 

Semester 1, then semester 2

Graduating college, then reemerging fear 

Looking, looking ahead 

Finding a job, then trying to relax 

Buying a house, then having a family 

Transitions to adulthood, then paying tax 

But what they should have said 

Is to live in the present 

And to stop looking ahead 

Because the future is transparent 

Look at the colorful leaves 

Look at the sky instead 

Look at friends and families 

But stop looking ahead 

Look at the textured ground

Look at walls instead 

Look at smiles all around  

But stop looking ahead 

For the minutes spent 

Looking, looking ahead

Missing out on the present 

tracing back where the time went 

Stop looking ahead 

Start living in the moment 

Start seeing instead 

What’s in the present