i have a cousin
who leaves for college
in two years.
she’s always wanted a pet.
since she was little,
elementary school.
her mother
(my aunt)
always told her
(and her little brother
who’s in seventh grade)
that she wasn’t old enough for a pet
and that they could get one—
a cat, or a dog, maybe—
when she was older.
she didn’t stop asking.
now she’s sixteen.
her mother now tells her
that she’s too old to get a pet.
that there’s no point anymore
since she’ll be moving out soon.
there was nowhere in between.
no goldilocks zone.
she was never just the “right” age to have a pet.

i don’t know what this is a metaphor for,
but there’s a bigger picture here,
i know it.