Starched straight dress with shiny new heels

My reflection stares back at me

Shiny dark tresses and sharply lined eyes

Is this who I want to be?

 

A year closer to adulthood

Professional as a lady with an ice cold heart

Good grades and academic awards

In life do you get a restart?

 

Assignments and tasks handed back with expected excellence

Manners that encourage even the most timid of talkers

With this façade of proper

I just might go bonkers

 

Dirt and pebbles dig into my palms

Wild hollers assault my ears

Playful curse words glide through the air

These are the people I want to be near

 

My terrified shriek dissolves into laughter

As I’m lifted into the air without warning

Friendly mockery of its abnormally high pitch

Gets my heart warming

 

Grass tickles our skin

As we pass soda around

Dirt staining our jeans

As we sit on the ground

 

In exchange for these memories I will trade all my trophies

Success dwarfs me with a lonely mist

Encouragements of those who care for me carry me higher

Than a paper that says no points were missed.

 

Perfection with its promise of success

Held me tightly in its grasp

Yet success does not come with unrivaled triumph

It comes in the moments that make you gasp

 

Ripped jeans and a t-shirt

My reflection stares back at me

Skewed hair and laugh lines

This is who I want to be.