We laugh loudly in the hallways of elementary school.

We are young and careless, simply

enjoying the ease of middle school.

We are blissfully unaware of reality. 

Yet, in a blink of an eye, we are seventeen.

We have the maturity of adults,

trapped inside a shell of naivety.

We have been stripped of our childhoods, 

forced into a sea of responsibility. 

Heads nearly submerged, gasping for air

at the inevitable cusp of adulthood. 

Those above us pave this unknown road

to college, jobs, apartments, relationships, families.

We are unprepared for the real world,

constantly reassured this life will become instinct.

But–

How will we know?