I'm 17.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm 3,

lost and confused.

Alone in the room,

it's too dark to sleep.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm 10,

happy and carefree,

with the biggest dreams of the future.

But then, I feel like I'm too old.

Expectations and anticipations,

weighing down on me.

I'm gnarled and bent,

cracking along hairline fractures.

But I'm just 17,

with unimportant problems, laughable worries.

All I have to do is

have straight A's, be first chair in band,

be the best in kung fu, be the best in everything I do,

graduate at the top of my class, be accepted to the best schools,

become a doctor, find a good man, get married, get settled, have kids, retire and die.

But I'm only 17,

and I already need a break.