I wish I could be a child forever,

clinging to my mother after a bad fall on the asphalt

pained but safe in the knowledge that she is there;

It will be all right.

 

But days go and the nights fly away,

And as the clock ticks so does the time that I have left

as a little girl, safe in loving arms.

 

No longer does a fall on the asphalt warrant a warm hug, a loving embrace.

Instead,

"Get on up off the ground! We have places to go!"

And I haul myself up, sore and sniffling.

 

No matter the measures

taken, the future comes slamming

Into the present.

ACTs, SATs, GPAs, and other three-letter words

Invading the solitude once known as home

I don't want to go into this world alone

Don't know where to go

What to do

Not ready to leave, not ready to

be

Someone.

 

I need Direction.

I don't know where to find it.