Until I realized I was grown

 

Bouncing down the convenience store aisle

Pulling the sleeves of your shirt down over your shoulders

in an effort to feel older

and more grown up.

 

It was the age of boycotting tennis shoes and jeans

Of thick bangs and lisps

Trying to get a grip

on what it would be like one day to be

older.

 

You have a locker all to yourself now

Running to class is your reality

because now no teacher can stop you

from waking up late

and still braiding your hair.

 

Singing the song your heart has sung

Only to find out you haven't won

even though it's already been two whole years

of writing for extra credit

and mascara-coated tears.

 

Art class, Sundays, and a mysterious boy

This new era it seems isn't the end

but after all, you know the end will come soon anyway.

 

Vile.

This place is vile.

Where am I? You ask

I emerge

 

The other end is a movie

with a true love you thought you'd never catch

And yet this is the end.

 

The thing you've been waiting for

since you had those terrible bangs

Not everything hangs just over your head

out of reach.

 

You know the things you longed to know

and you've felt love more

than perhaps even some old

who still linger in spirit

to applaud you.

 

This,

The happiest you've ever been when

faced with what you've long known

 

Grown you are now, child.

Go.