Gain

You got to take what you learn
And lose it, but don’t lose it

All or too much, too soon. Let
It slip off and find its own

Way out of you, like a cat,
Like the child you raised from scratch

That claws at the screen to go,
That sneaks off to find bad kids,

Or what you fear will be bad
In the night. Out in the night,

What you learned will learn to fend,
Will grow up, will fail or thrive

And then fail, as all life must.
For a while, it comes and goes,

Fine. Then one day, all you’ll know
Is what you learned won’t come back.