Twelve year olds these days reminds us

of how cringe-worthy we used to be

and that's probably why we give them so much shit.

Ya'll wanna pretend

you weren't starting fires and stealing cigarettes

and shoving  candy into your pockets at the store.

When I watched half of you do that in front of me.

We beat up kids once in a while-

ambushed them at the park

or behind the apartments.

We've all been there.

So maybe we should be there for kids too.