#teenagehood
oh, don’t worry, you’ll find them.
you’ll know them by the stitch
in your side, bent over shaking with
laughter,
the day you miss the bin and
the carton sails straight
into some poor, unsuspecting soul.
you’ll know them by their side-eye,
that single-second, inside joke—
hair-braiding, thumb wars,
secrets whispered in the dark.
and one day, a boy will break
your heart but they will roast that boy
like a marshmallow over a fire.
you’ll know them by the
unbreakability
of a pinky promise,
by the knee-jerk, camera-flash joy.
you’ll know on the nights so late
that even taco bell is closed,
by the three-hundred bad pictures
of you on their phones.
it’s sticky leather seats in the summer,
all mess and love and side-by-side.
and when four years are past,
caps tipped, turned, and tossed
and you’re standing in a football field with
a runny nose and wet-streaked cheeks,
you’ll know them by the way it
aches
to wave goodbye, to go home because
you’re not 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 home at all—
you just left it.
Jun 5, 2025
Jun 5, 2025 at 9:47 PM UTC
A triangle block in a square hole.
I manage to fit but there’s still
Something missing.
The uncanny valley of personhood.
I blend in just enough to
Stand out.
I use it as a weapon and so do they.
Dec 21, 2024
Dec 21, 2024 at 5:42 PM UTC
I am at a point where I am confused
I am at a point where I am lost
Is this what being a teenager is? Boluwatife
I am at a point where I crave to be seen
I am at a point where I crave to be loved
Is this what being a teenager is. Boluwatife
I am at a point where my heart is broken
I have lost so many friends at this point
Is this what teenage hood is? Loretta
I am at a point where I don't want to disappoint my parents
I am at a point where I don't want to disappoint my friends
Is this what being a teenager is? Boluwatife
I love being a teenager, I hate being a teenager
I am confused, depressed and frustrated
Is this what being a teenager is? Boluwatife
So many things crave my attention
I am afraid I will succumb to the pressure
Is this what teenage hood is? Loretta
So much is expected of me
I can't seem to find a balance in my life
Is this what being a teenager is? Boluwatife
Am I being weird, aren't I too fat
I think I'm too thin, a lot of people are staring😥
Is this what being a teenager is?
Everyone wants to force their opinions on me
No one cares what I think
Is this what teenage hood is? Loretta
Feb 15, 2021
Feb 15, 2021 at 12:04 AM UTC
Same old bed
Same old mess
Same old self,
same old, same old
...
Different time
Different expectation
Different people
Different connection
...
Trapped in the possessed power of the passed
memories
Those, who never asked
to
Different world
Different place
Unfamiliar stuff
Ahead of time
Out of rhyme
No one to blame
Aging on,
Here's your stick to find your path
in the dark
Shuffle on,
travel on
...
Feb 15, 2018
Feb 15, 2018 at 1:03 AM UTC
I ****** up.
I mean like I really ****** it up this time.
I don’t know what I said wrong
But
I’m sorry.
I’d pray you aren’t mad at me
If I believed in a god.
But I don’t
So I just look for people to blame and
Oh look!
I choose myself.
God.
This is the worst.
I’m going to be alone forever.
Oh.
Never mind.
He texted back
May 2, 2017
May 2, 2017 at 3:11 PM UTC
A car is a coffin for popcorn
lost in the back seat
we've driven to Land's End
& are standing at the crossroads
between destinations
I'm twelve or fourteen, I can't remember
on holiday from starched uniforms
blazing red & pins & needles-ridden morning assemblies
I'm not yet a European
not yet a Third Culture Kid
longing for cans of baked beans
whilst sampling new delights
my heart is still intact,
my soul is full of hope & dreams
& my hair is long, the way
mother & society wanted it
the signpost is pointing to America
now my lost hope
Nov 14, 2015
Nov 14, 2015 at 5:57 PM UTC
Do you KNOW what it's like to STAND at your front door for half an hour,
SHAKING just trying to OPEN it?
GOD forbid you actually WALK out of it.
WAKING up in cold SWEATS with the PANIC that has FAILED to be SUPPRESSED in the SOLITARY, morphing WARY into the MANIC.
ISOLATION driven you half insane
That as you try to hold a CONVERSATION you're counting the syllables off against WINDOW PANES. And if they don't FIT you have to adjust the TOPIC to make sure you end on the LAST PANE.
**It's lasting pain to know
I spent a good part of my
teenagehood in this state.**
But now a weight has been lifted,
be it a product of my split personality or not the poles have been shifted,
so now it's time to sue a side
and reclaim the path stolen by an imposter deemed fate
cause if I learnt anything
in the wait it's this;
YOU ARE THE PERSPECTIVE YOU CREATE
Jan 26, 2015
Jan 26, 2015 at 7:15 PM UTC
You know how you're supposed to grow?
Well I retreated.
Treated and Re-Treated,
For ailments unknown.
Jan 1, 2015
Jan 1, 2015 at 6:41 PM UTC