by Maya Asregadoo

Day after day marked off of the calendar

Endless ticking of a clock

School, job

life

Make it stop, make it stop

Sticky-sweet apple juice on my fingers

Cracker crumbs on my lips and

Wet soil packed onto my pants and

Gravel stuck between the cracks of my

Shoes

My mother shook her head in

Exasperation but she still

Smiled with secret pleasure

Days devoted to learning and play

In equal measure

The world was a

Wonderful place!

Did you know that brontosaurus was

Bigger than a football field!

And that Jackie and I are faeries–

(And that we are just playing make believe)!

And that I can spell

G-O-V-E-R-N-M-E-N-T!

Take me back

Take me back

Take me back

It looked alright on TV but really

it’s

Sleep sacrificed for
Deadlines

Friendships that are no longer

Forever

And being told that I must decide

What to do with my

Life

at only

Seventeen

Soon it will be

The people who watched me

Grow up

Three-thousand miles away

Paying for things like

Toilet paper and

Birth control and

Water bills

Make it stop, make it stop

Please

Take me back

Take me back

Take me back