Squeals

At 3:00 you hear the squeals
As children race from school.
Exuberance goes hand in hand
With youngsters, as a rule.

As puberty advances
And the kids hit junior high,
Such squealing seems the type of thing
They’d have to justify.

Self-consciousness wreaks havoc
With the way a person feels,
So fallen by the wayside
Are those unimpeded squeals.