seven days now
till childhood
no longer becomes an option
when I become a man
strong and powerful
full of vigor
wise
ready to take on the world
and willing to
thirsty for it
in fact

it’s not that
I’m not ready
but how could they expect
everyone to be?
that’s a lot to ask of a kid
still in high school
never lived on his own
never loved or
if he has
only to some *****
with a power complex
and maybe he’s had a job
but never a good one
and he’s probably never known
what it’s like to be relied on
or to be responsible
or to even own anything
and yet those are all things
they’re saying he’s
ready to do

it’s a ****** up world
we grow up into
and my race through it
begins soon

stepping out into the daylight,
I can almost hear the crowd
screaming:

three,


two,



one.