The whole idea of getting older is so sweet yet sickening.

A kind of measles of the spirit

A mumps of the psyche

The flu destroying my soul

A disfiguring chickenpox of the mind.

I’ve been told that it is too early to look back,

But that is because you have forgotten

The naivety and simplicity it takes to be one

Yet the nuance and beautiful complexity it takes to be two digits

But I can lie in bed and recall everything in single digits.

I commanded the stars above, knowing I could never reach them

I was an Arabian Wizard who drank milk to turn invisible

I now realize that in no way, shape, or form was that ever original.

While invisible, I always screeched to my parents, thinking they couldn’t see me.

Back then, that dark blue bike of mine was prized to me, and I bragged about it

Now, it leans against the garage door, as I watch all the dark blue speed drain out of it.

That in turn left someone behind, she didn’t see why I agree with what I feel

I loved to stargaze on a blanket outside, making shapes out of stars

They screamed at one another, as the Moon came ajar.

But now, I am mostly at my window

Watching the late afternoon light condense into the midnight sky.

I walk through what was once snow, as the winds hummed to me

Telling me their secrets, I once never understood

Parts of me started to fade away, bit by bit.

Now I walk through the sidewalks of life in my sneakers

“My worn down sneakers”

At 15, it is time I say goodbye to my imaginary friends

“Just a small figment of my imagination”

It seems that only yesterday,

I used to believe that there were nothing but rainbows and butterflies under my skin

It seems like only yesterday,

I cried when I scraped my knee or fell

It seems like only yesterday,

I was that young child.

Now I am at the coming of age,

I see children younger than me scraping their knees,

Playing on the sidewalks of life.

But from those sidewalks of life, I see they are a reflection of me.