You Live What You've Learned
In the cradle of dawn, where the first lessons bloom,
A child’s wide eyes drink the world’s costume.
The hum of a lullaby, soft whispers of care,
Plants seeds of love in the heart’s tender lair.
Each stumble, each giggle, each tear-streaked face,
Carves pathways of knowing, a map of life’s grace.
For you live what you’ve learned, in the marrow, the bone,
Your soul’s quiet compass, through fields yet unknown.
The schoolyard’s rough edges, where friendships are forged,
Teach trust and betrayal, where young hearts are gorged.
A teacher’s stern voice, or a book’s open gate,
Unfurls the mind’s sails to navigate fate.
Arithmetic’s logic, the poet’s sweet rhyme,
Build scaffolds of thought that endure through all time.
Yet beyond the chalk dust, life’s lessons unfold—
The sting of a slight, or a kindness retold.
You learn from the silence when no one will speak,
From the weight of a secret too heavy to keep.
The bruise of a failure, the thrill of a win,
Each moment a tutor that shapes from within.
The lover who left you, with scars that still burn,
Taught you to guard, but to learn, and to yearn.
And the hands that once held you, now distant, now gone,
Leave echoes of warmth that you carry along.
Through cities of chaos, through meadows of peace,
Your choices reflect what your past dared release.
The skeptic’s sharp gaze, born of lies you believed,
Now sifts through sweet words that might yet deceive.
But the dreamer who danced through your youth’s starry skies,
Still sparks in your step when new wonders arise.
For the heart keeps its ledger, both losses and gains,
And weaves them to patterns that pulse in your veins.
The world is no classroom with desks in a row,
Yet learning’s a river, unceasing in flow.
A stranger’s brief kindness, a storm’s sudden roar,
Each carves a new lesson to add to your store.
The courage to stand when the crowd turns away,
Was earned in the moments you chose not to sway.
And the mercy you offer, despite your own pain,
Springs from the grace you once fought to regain.
But beware what you learn, for not all truths are kind—
Some lessons can shackle the spirit and mind.
The cynic’s cold armor, forged hot in despair,
May shield you from hurt, but leave love threadbare.
Yet even the wounds that you wish to unlearn,
Can soften to wisdom when given their turn.
For the soul is a canvas, both fragile and vast,
Each stroke of experience a hue that will last.
In the twilight of years, when the shadows grow long,
You’ll hum an old tune, half-forgotten, yet strong.
Its melody woven from all you’ve been taught—
The battles you lost, and the wars that you fought.
The laughter of children, the weight of regret,
The promises kept, and the ones you forget.
They blend to a chorus, both bitter and sweet,
A life fully lived, where the learned and lived meet.
So tread with intention, seek knowledge that frees,
Let love be your tutor, let truth be your keys.
For you live what you’ve learned, in each step, every word,
Your actions the echo of all that you’ve heard.
From the cradle’s first lesson to the grave’s final verse,
Your life is a poem that your learning rehearses.
And the world, ever watching, will read in your ways,
The story of all that you’ve learned in your days.
