I know that I come off as mature,
But don’t erase my life.
16 is far from 20
And 20 would make me a different person.
So please don’t invalidate my existence
By creating a new one in your head.
Treat me like a human
And please, treat me the way you think I should be treated, regardless of what number is attached to my being.
Don’t be an age eraser.
This poem doesn’t even make sense. It’s a jumbled up ramble of two of my most haunting insecurities;
People assuming my age (usually 18-20s) and then holding me up to some impossible standard of responsibility/maturity that they’ve created AND people judging me for my age/patronizing me/invalidating me when I tell them my age and I’m younger than what they thought (I’m 16 but I am “mature for my age”).
Don’t make me feel bad about my existence just because I’m different than what you think a 16 year-old should be.
