I didn't write this particular poem when I was eighteen but rather a few months before. It has a quality of teenage angst in it that I both enjoy and shake my head at in disbelief as I look over it. This was the first poem I ever wrote that wasn't for a school assignment.
“18”
18 is an age that we all must endure
It’s the great culmination of days passing by
The road of your life is well paved and sure
So sure, you don’t even stop to ask why
For why is a question that you can’t afford
Not with taxes and budgets and multiple fees
To ask why would forsake your new room and board
For the question would slow you down instantly
So buck up there, soldier, there’s nothing to fear
You stand upon the threshold of space and of time
You now must charge forth through the shouts and the leers
Of those among you who will not stand in line
They have the audacity to think for themselves
The refuse to commit to your reasonable terms
They aren’t priced and aren’t packaged and placed onto
shelves
Why won’t they know what the world must all learn?
You’re old now, grow up, and get out of bed
The world is your oyster to cut and to clean
Your purpose is found and inscribed in your head
You life should be over by the time you’re 18.
