I am Allowed

She says

my first boyfriend can’t be my true love

so rarely

she says

do first-time couples stay together

and take on the world as one

She said 

i should have been working harder

the past four years

because just getting good grades

wasn’t as good as

what everyone else was doing

She will say

she doesn’t believe

i am very committed

i change my mind all the time

i am a flake, i am a fake

and i am constantly trying to

be someone else

I say, mother

I am Allowed to love who I please

and he and I have held tight

to the other’s hand

as we have faced the past two years

I said, mother

that I don’t want

to be a vet

and I am Allowed

to want something else

without being labeled

a quitter

I will say, mother 

that I am Allowed

to change my mind

without checking to see 

if it pleases you first

and I am Allowed

to follow my own path

without it being identical

to yours

I am Allowed to develop into the person I was meant to Become