I cried on my thirteenth birthday.

The way it all seemed too much to take,

For youth to have irrevocable choices to make

I wanted to throw this gift of the future away.

Walking down the middle school halls,

I want to hug the heartbroken

Never, never would I go back again,

as adults we admit within classroom walls.

That first step away from safety feels like a running leap,

The body awkwardly sprouts or swells,

The lunchroom reverbs with secrets your confidante tells,

Everything feels too much, too deep.

To go from dolls to dates, games to jobs, mud pies to meal plans, toy boxes to desks to lockers to a suitcase to… who can imagine where?