Poems

17 Years

Hey lovely roses!! I started writing this on my birthday, but then it was delayed by about....*pauses to think* a month and a day. So, it was my birthday a month and a day ago. Sorry about that!! Warning, poem may be VERY sappy. Apologies in advance. Enjoy!! Until next time,

~Freya~

Seventeen years of life.
Year 1: A new world, a new name, my eyes opened for the first time, leaving me awestruck.

Year 2: I learned to communicate, to interact with the world, and to love my big brother.

Year 3: A new arrival, I became a big sister and discovered responsibility. We left the Alaskan snow I was born to for the forests of the North West.

Year 4: I learned to play, frolicking about the playground as my father and brother taught me about superheroes, and how toy daggers are cooler than Barbie dolls.

Year 5: Another little sister, now I share a room with both sisters...I began to discover patience (still need a refresher course from time to time).

Year 6: I learned about friends, and how you sometimes lose them.

Year 7: Another move, a fresh start.

Year 8: A little brother comes along, his goofy nature always making me laugh.

Year 9: My father joins the army, and must leave. I discover the anger and pain that comes with missing someone you love so much. I turn to my strong mother, and find hope, courage, and love.

Year 10: Bullies come knocking, shoving me to the ground.

Year 11: Another move from the North to the South, more bullies to encounter. This time, I learn courage and strength as I fight back.

Year 12: I discover racism, and I curl my fists in righteous indignation.
I discover how it feels to be discriminated for my beliefs, for the fact I am a woman.

Year 13: I watch my brother grief for a friend who passed on too soon, and try to comfort him with the words I write.

I learn to find relief in stories, igniting a passion for writing and drawing.

I discover my own naïveté, and am left to suffer for it as "friends" betray me. I learn about lies, and how much I hate them.
Year 14: I find true friends, ones who tell the truth and love me as I am. Such friendships last as I leave the southern swamps for the Western deserts.

Year 15: I discover more family than I knew I had, moving to my parents' hometown...and why they left as gunshots become my lullaby, and racist curses greet me each morning as I leave for school, my brother attacked by dogs at the orders of their masters, because of our pale skin. I now know how it feels to have such hate directed at me.

I learn how it feels to lose people you love as I bury my aunt and great grandmother within a week of each other.

I am shocked at the rage that boils inside of me at the fact my aunt had to suffer because her doctor didn't know what he was doing, and he didn't care. She could have been saved, if it wasn't for his indifference. I learn to harbor a deep hatred for hospitals.

Another move in the middle of the school year, a return to mountains and forests in the North.

I have difficulties making friends with the children of richer families, very conscious of the gap in money. Rich children surround me as I walk down the halls alone, save for my older brother. We grow closer, always looking out for the other.

A new friend comes along, gently taking my hand and helping me ignite my passion for dance and music. We both learn to crack our shells, and open up to each other.

Year 16: My brother moves out, and I learn more about responsibility as I am left the eldest child in the house. I learn more of confidence and how to care for my family.

I discover romance, and the courage and risk it takes to pursue it, to not let it slip through your fingers.

Year 17: Another year, another chapter, yet to unfold. We shall learn the lessons and discoveries of this year together, always holding on to hope.