Legal

The legal age to vote,

put someone in office

you know nothing about.

The legal age to buy cigarettes,

to smoke your lungs black

every puff, a puff closer to death.

The legal age to get a tattoo,

write meaningless words

on your body that you were too

coward to say.

The legal age to join the military,

prove that you are man enough

to serve your country.

The legal age to go to a strip club,

enter a dark room and watch a woman

strip down to her bare skin, showing everyone

the only thing she should keep for her private

view.

The legal age to drop out of school,

let your education fall flat,

letting your own life end before it even really starts.

The legal age to buy a gun,

let bullets fly from your fingers,

take the life of someone that

I probably know nothing about.

The legal age to change your name,

put yourself down as a different person,

become the one you always wanted to be.

The legal age to get married,

to tie yourself to someone for the rest of

what should be your life, but only if society thinks

its acceptable.