Theories on Growing Up, locked away for later re-examination

Perhaps
that’s all there is to maturity;
knowing when to cut your losses
to put to rest the overworked horse
relieving it
of burdens it was never meant to bear.
Perhaps
it’s learning when to stop raging,
to accept the inexorable night.
Perhaps
you learn to navigate
to steer yourself
through islands of heartbreak,
preferring the occasional grounding
to an endless sea of loneliness.

Or
perhaps
you just learn to stop whining,
or maybe even simply learn
to whine more artfully.