Tire Swing

I am a tire swing. Tire swings have to work hard to put up with the weight they hold. I have to work hard to keep up the work I am given. Tire swings give in to too much weight, sometimes. I do, too. I give in to ignorance. I am impatient. Tire swings crack, too. They don’t stay brand new, and they don’t always look brand new, either. I’m like that. Every time I get a new start, a clean slate, I mess it up. And you can see it, too.
But I give people joy. When the pressure isn’t too great, of course. I like giving people joy. Tire swings give people joy. They make people laugh. I like making people laugh. But people like to push them around. And they still give people joy. And laughter. Always laughter. People like to chase laughter- they go to extreme lengths to get that funny feeling in their stomach. I like having people laugh at things I say. It makes me feel good. But like a tire swing, the push me. They like to make fun of me, because sometimes I don’t understand what they say or what goes on around me. And my reactions give them something to laugh at.
Tire swings always stay in one place. Underneath the tree they hang from, always tied to the rope they are attached to. I am like that. I don’t change much. My parents tell me to do one thing, and I’ll do it for a period of time, then I slink back to my original place. But I like where I am. It’s difficult sometimes, with all of the pushes, the pulling, the pressure, the cracking, but I like it. And tire swings never change shape. Sure, they crack, then split, they get holes, but they keep their mold. I’m like that. I get a new set of vocabulary every week! I learn lessons every day, I change clothes, cut my hair, eat new things, but I stay the same person.
Tire swings are loyal. They don’t hold grudges. They don’t tell someone, “Well, last time you almost broke me, so fat chance buddy- you ain’t sittin’ on me today!” I don’t hold grudges. I like forgiving people. Sometimes, some people are harder to forgive than others. But it’s always possible. And loyalty is important.
I think I’m most like a tire swing, though, because people have always liked them and always will, until they fall off. When they fall off, they get a scrape in the bug-infested dirt. And they don’t get back on the swing for a long time. People like me, and I’m not anti-social, but people make mistakes. I do. I say wrong things all the time, and people need to learn to forgive them. But like I said, it’s hard to forgive sometimes. I try to be good, and take the pressure, but sometimes I blow up. I like having people like me, and I try to keep it like that. But I let go sometimes, and the trust falls off. And trust is not an easy companion to get back. But when someone falls off of a tire swing, the swing keeps swinging. And that’s what I do. I will swing. And swing. And swing, swing, swing, until someone gets back on.