Waking up worried about a day
That hasn’t started yet,
Shades of black under my eyes,
On my way to becoming a living skeleton.

Just tested the waters of adulthood a few days ago,
But I’m not an adult yet—
Nor an innocent child now.

There was a time when the biggest problem
Was trees dying.
Now I look in the mirror and see a girl crying.
(Or is it just a reflection of me, always crying?)

Trust came easy then,
But it got lost along the way.
Laughing was second nature—
Now it’s more of a chore.

Dreams were the future,
Yet all I see are nightmares.
Friends said forever,
Before they threw the knives.

Oh, it was all good back then,
But now I’m always crying.
Worry-free innocence, why did you leave?
Come back and give me my heart.

I was a kind kid,
But now all I think about is me.
I don’t want to breathe this way,
No, I don’t want to live this way.

My youth,
Please don’t leave me

She said, "I can't do it,"
her eyes shining with playful teasing.
Me, with the stubborn mind and will in my eyes,
said, "I can and will, and you'll see."

So it began,
making a chaos out of the colored cubes,
looking like a fool,
who's got no idea what she's doing.

I failed once, twice, thrice, for months,
but somehow I did it.
I put it back to how it was,
and I matched the colors to where they belonged.

And I felt proud of me,
for the first time in this life.