there's supposed to be some reflection
on summer's end, where we look to our lefts
and look to our rights with the acknowledgments
that some of us we started with are no longer
in this acedemia nutshell we started in.

and she's 19 and they're looking at her
waiting for her to make her next move.

and they keep asking me what it is i'll be doing
"you have to grow up" their eyes are telling me.
maybe go abroad, maybe take some time off
maybe write a book or save some children
from starvation, because all good girls
go to heaven after they've done something incredible.

well what about the girls who've chain-smoked cigarettes
and have gotten lost in wooden adventures
and had sex on their parents couches and
paid way too much for novelty clothing to wear once
for a good night out?
what about those girls?

and what about the other side to those girls
who cry to their mother's and wash the dishes
and read books by the fire and get dressed
for their grandmothers who pinch their cheeks
and tell them that they've grown to be so beautiful.
what about those girls?

and what about this girl
who's an even mix between the two
because she'll throw cares to the wind and run away
and make friends with a hobo who sent her kind words
but she'll call home everyday and attend all her classes
but care more about the guy who gives her eyes
across the room.

and after everyone else has long gone to bed
she sits awake on benches outside cold buildings
and wonders if she'll make it into purgatory.

08/09/2005

Posted on 08/09/2005
Copyright © 2024 Lauren Singer