I smile
as I watch them
recognizing
in a poignant swirl
of amusement
and slight sadness
what I once was
and I am so relieved
I have grown past
They range in sizes
some still small, undeveloped
others tall and lanky
not yet grown into
uncoordinated limbs
they have oily hair
unpleasant aromas
and this is the time
of acne
wreaking trauma into young lives
already painful
This is the era
when gossip flies around
like sharp arrows
dipped in poison
to puncture hunched backs
when friendships and acceptance
are needed so desperately
and are so rarely
truely satisfied
Petty jealousies
and assumptions based on
hasty first impressions
dictate lives
one's happiness
or lack of it
and for many
the first symptoms
of depression
begin
The first assertions
of relationships
tentative at times
bold and brash at others
neither liking the person
they are seeing
so much as the idea
of love
romance
that none can quite understand
at this time
These are the years
where everyone
regardless of their pretenses
or supposed social status
is scarred
some vital piece
of their childhood innocence
lost...
I watch them
the quiet, unsure ones
who avoid meeting eyes
the girls dressed trendily
using bold gestures
and body language
masking inner uncertainty
the boys who swagger
having practiced their walk
before the mirror
the night before...
I see them
and I think to myself
how nothing
nothing
would ever make me
want to be
thirteen
again.
Author notes
I wrote this after a day of student teaching eighth graders... that was only four years ago, but it seems like a lifetime.
A contest entry
- Depressing, DirtyPretty, Society by KittieLyyn.
450 points, ended March 24, 2007, 18 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
-
so true. so amazing.
love this part.
Petty jealousies
and assumptions based on
hasty first impressions
dictate lives
one's happiness
or lack of it
and for many
the first symptoms
of depression
begin
it reminded me when i was thirteen. i had a really rough time. becuase i was "different" just amazing great job. good luck in the contest. thank you for entering.
-
heh this is so true, i hate this age, I'm in it and it's all true
-
well written poem; i too would never want to go back to that age. hard to believe its only been four years. you have some very nice descriptions here!
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