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