How did we make growth a race, 

turning our lives into something to chase? 

How did our worries take control, 

carving their weight into our soul? 

 

I thought we were stardust bright, 

drifting soft in endless flight. 

Salt in the sea, wind in the air- 

not just the red I’ve come to wear. 

 

Plastic screens and flashing lights, 

mirrors warping day to night. 

Your lipstick stain upon my shore, 

but does it mean you’re mine no more? 

 

Glittering eyes, tears that gleam, 

pearls in the sky, love like a dream. 

The house we played in, grandma’s thread, 

the words once spoken, now left unsaid. 

 

Your bruised arm, your growing teeth, 

the ghosts that linger underneath. 

Your love untamed, your heart so wild, 

not some project, just a child. 

 

You are not meant to fit, to mold, 

not made to shrink, not made to fold. 

Let your skin feel, let your heart see, 

you have nowhere-nowhere-you must be. 

 

So be the wind, the raging sea, 

be nothing less than wild and free.