when I was fourteen
I still felt foreteen
there but not there
here but not here
there but not here
here but not there

I was opposite my opposite
an opposition of opposite
turning my heart
from right to wrong to left again
absent my mind and
immersed in brain
immersed in heart but
lacking soul
immersed in mind but
absent body
lacking sense and finding no joy
spending myself in neverending treasure hunts
the coinage of foreteen going on
fourteen


c. 2024 Roberta Compton Rainwater