18

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.