Are we nearly there yet?

When I was four I wanted to be five.
When I was five I wanted to be six
or ten. And then
I wanted to be old enough
for big school, big enough to stay out late,
go down the pub, be bold enough
to go abroad alone,
to earn enough to leave home
and have the children who
when they were four wanted to be five,
when they were five wanted to be six.

Somewhere in those years
the years turned back and now
I’m happy to be four. Or six, or ten
the whole weekend.