Sixteen Going On 21 Poem by Brioney Leon

When we were young
we wanted to belong
to everything
especially the streets
We took our chances and
sometimes nearly
took our own lives with us
We lost our minds
and found them over
and over again

We were brothers and sisters
All of us in it together
Seeking attention and then
running away from it
Picking at our sores
Making up our narrow little minds
Hurting, loving and learning
from each other

We ran in dangerous places
Like packs of wolves
Howling at the night
Fearless and full of self-loathing
so vain and arrogant
So determined and naïve
So anxious to please

When we finally got away
From those places that tried
to steal our souls
we looked back at
all the faces we once knew
that stayed behind
And they were grey and hanging

We knew we couldn’t save them
So we lit matches and tried
to find our own way out
through concrete forests
and across the dusty fields
back to our homes
and into the softness of
our mothers’ arms