seventeen

In Arts & Entertainment, Black History, Culture, Poetry by Nicole Crawford

seventeen is smashed glass

almost but not quite 

mistakes 

chasing demons accidentally 

crying without sound

a head swirling with shapes and works 

no clarity 

music inside out 

needs ,,, so many needs 

it’s wanting to be close 

disappearing .. distance .. insignificance 

it’s falling from silver linings 

floating through the abyss

losing the ability to force smiles 

fading 

overwhelmed 

silent. 

seventeen is not knowing and never finding out 

glass ceilings 

death and numbness all the same 

laughter is painful 

unachievable

deep breathing 

is suffocating 

seventeen is an enigma 

escaping 

hidden in the depths of most unwanted desires 

being unwanted

sometimes unspoken. 

but seventeen is not final 

it is not the end 

it is not even the beginning 

a mandatory stepping stone 

a fall into grace 

favor ,, love 

it is fear of the unknown 

comfort, belonging 

finding you in me

me in you 

completion 

almost but not quite 

the light but not the end of the tunnel 

a saving grace 

it is you, me 

redefining peace 

everything, nothing 

finite familiarity 

it is the first breath

maybe the last 

it is always and forever 

it is promises broken 

and everything it needs to be, for you, me 

abundance 

change 

clarity 

the ebbs and flows of shallow ocean waters 

serenity 

this is, was, and always will be 

seventeen 

-rawest forms