we talk about them
like we are on Degrassi
pouring into teenage minds
pregnancy
addiction
suicide
sitcoms
we talk about them
like they can't hear us
i think about
how I am in high school
and I don't want to be this old yet

my neighborhood was never big enough
manicured lawns expanding
playgrounds rusting
but I'll never forget the day
we pretended to shoot our classmates
from the top of the slide

"don't tell her I told you"
I wonder how many times
someone has told someone
not to tell me

I watched a video
on quantum mechanics today
and a man told me that he was made of atoms
and so was I
and I finally felt okay
with being different