Adventure!

                                  Thomas Hart Benton

ADVENTURE!


A simple painting of a boy; he's balanced on a rock.
I look intently at the scene, and now I'm taking stock.
It's not a modern picture, that's easy to discern;
It's from a time with a way of life that's not going to return.
Where is the Mother hovering? Where are the 'Warning' signs?
I see they're missing! It's not hard to read between the lines....
This was painted in nineteen-thirty, when life had an easy pace,
And letting Sonny 'wander off' not a matter for disgrace!
He may fall in the water! Or , maybe, graze his knee!
For he is off adventuring, unsupervised and free.
*

How did we survive, my friends, in those days of long ago,

When the world was an enormous place but the pace of life was slow?

We were always falling out of trees and getting scratched and bruised,

But no-one called a lawyer, for no-one was accused.

Likewise with walking into doors, or tripping on a stone,

It was just 'Ho-hum! We must take care not to break another bone!'

The babies thrived on eating dirt; that was to be expected,

And no-one ever thought to say those babies were neglected.

If the teacher punished us at school our parents said 'What for?

Sounds like the punishment was deserved! Here's a little more!'

We'd spend all day in the countryside or in the local park

And all Mum said was 'Just make sure you're home before it's dark.'

We made our fragile go-carts out of wood and rusty wheels;

On the downward run, if we went too fast, we fell head-over-heels!

Of course, there were bullies everywhere, bullies were the rule,

That was only to be expected; they were part of school.
Life was a rough-and-tumble, a sure and accepted fact;
We weren't delicate little blossoms not sure how we should act!
*

But we can't have been good parents, when our own turn came to breed,

For the generations following have been nervous, yes, indeed.
Our children are the parents now, and they worry all the time;
All that adventuring has gone and I think that's a crime.
The world's become a tricky place, and very, very scary;
Everywhere there seem to be traps for the unwary.
But we're the generation that brought this change about;
(And Doctor Spock should bow his head, there isn't any doubt!)

Children are cosseted these days and isn't that a shame.

But 'It's always the fault of the parents'

We must be to blame.

*