though not yet ready to take on the world,
I am desperate to attack the rest of my life.

I am
seventeen

smart, strong,
and optimistic

over-brimming with
energy and excitement
and juvenile grit

it is time for the world
to meet the real me

a being of inexplicable good luck
determined to make the best of it

women, men, and children
I introduce to a man not yet
fully realized

but know this:

he will come to you with fire
and the best of you will carry
it on beyond him