YOUTH

youth is embarrassing
and beautiful
you don't know enough yet
to be embarrassed by it
and though it's ever passing
you feel it in slow motion
as if each and every beat is
everlasting
the stakes are so high
you feel like you can fly
indestructible
special
extraordinary
the limit exceeds the sky
your youth stretches out
in the middle of the night
cozy, like a pie
so happy you could die
hard knocks roll off your back
you bounce back
easily
your gawkiness is awkward
and unsettling
to those past the tide
your inhibitions and goofy looks
sit raw in the stomachs of
older brothers
you can't help it
and don't care to
until the day your youthdom dies
the bounce ceases to rise quite as high
you look in the mirror and see all the flaws
you stand agape in halls
as others find you foreign
and you yourself agree with them
who is this beast?
and what is this body you dare to strut around in?
nothing is good
nothing is right
anger comes over you
unrelenting sadness
and even though your life
hasn't suddenly plummeted to the very pits of hell
you feel it has
and a grand injustice been served you
your youth is fleeting, leaving you
your death, surely imminent
nothing will be the same
as those hot, summer, youth filled days
you're growing older
bills gotta get paid
you gotta look the look of your days
you gotta be a certain kinda way
or that age old embarrassment is gonna
come back to haunt you