At five, I thought growing up would be
Nothing short of fantasy.
I would be what I wanted, and go anywhere;
I’d be an author diver astronaut superhero robotics trillionare!
Of those dreams, I’m not all that proud.
I’m too old for my head to be up in a cloud.
For later on, I was soon told
To cherish childhood before I was old.

Does this mean I thought with fear,
That grimmer days are coming near?
In middle school, approaching fast,
Will I be one more outcast?
With never any time to spend
On finding just one, meager friend?
And high school… the thought made me sick…
Would be ruled by all the popular cliques
Who’d beat me by day and mock me by night.
It’s in the movies, it must be right!
And even if I still survive,
I’ll need to someday learn to drive.
On foot I am not even-keel,
So how can I not crash behind the wheel?
But hey, fewer responsibilities to shirk;
In the movies, they don’t do work!
But college was where I’d drop the ball…
If I made it there at all…

So I skipped 7-9, I was homeschooled.
My science book was a propaganda tool
Designed to endlessly insist
That I be fundamentalist.
High school arrived, and to my surprise,
I was not at all brutalized.
I still could not believe my eyes!
This isn’t so bad, the stories were lies!

I tried my best to work hard here,

I learned to drive, to break, to steer.

But the more I asked and the more I read,
That high school was the best was in my head!
I had a lot to look forward to,
More responsibilities, but more things to do.
And now I’ve gone and taken
A bunch of classes; I was mistaken
To think that I could handle them all.
I certainly hope my grades don’t stall!

So here I am, half way through
My time in high school, just like you.
That’s my coming-of-age.  So anyhow,
Could I please come of age right now?