16.5
means second-guessing your every move
trying to predict the impact it’ll have
trying to make the right choices.

16.5
means sobbing at Senior Speeches
in that cramped, sacred greenroom
because you know it will be your turn soon

to leave, and to choose:
your passion or your practicality?

At 16.5, countless doors await you
waiting to be opened,
but you’re not quite there.

and when you reach the door you choose,
you will put your hand on the doorknob
and close your eyes
and breathe the last breath of your childhood.