Life's Twisted Games

*Life's Twisted Games*

We sat together, side by side,

In stiff wooden desks, our dreams inside,

Uniforms identical, teachers the same,

We thought life's rewards would be equally gained.

Youthful confidence blinded us to fate,

That life's not a classroom, but a trickster's state,

Plot twists abound, and fortunes are spun,

Leaving us bewildered, when our paths are undone.

Years later, we meet, by chance or design,

At weddings, funerals, or in a supermarket's aisle,

We see the surprises life has brought to bear,

The underachiever's mansion, the star's struggles to share.

The quiet one now leads, the loud one now silent,

Opportunities missed, and luck's unpredictable bent,

We wonder how it happened, how life's dice were rolled,

How some rose high, while others' dreams grew old.

But in reunions, years disappear, and titles fade,

Memories of nicknames, teachers, and laughter are displayed,

For a brief moment, we're young again, with dreams untold,

Before life's script intervened, and our paths grew cold.

Perhaps that's the real lesson, in life's twisted game,

Success isn't just about wealth, but a heart that still feels the same,

A heart that remembers, and still beats with glee,

For the friendships forged, in those stiff wooden desks, you see.