Youth

I do not miss my misspent youth

Sputtering through shyness

Too insecure to form meaningful relationships

Lost in a sea of raging hormones

Shipwrecked by depression

Witnessing the world from behind a one-way mirror

I reflected others back onto themselves

Too scared to disapprove or move

I worked hard but didn’t live up to my potential

Treatment from others was less than preferential

I embodied a human doormat

I don’t miss feeling like it is the first day of school every day of school

I was wild and a fool

Falling into a serial monogamy with narcissists

Not seeing my own contribution to the ill romances which pushed me beyond the end of my rope

Like my partners, I felt special, though I didn’t express it outwardly

All along, sacrificing my ego could have liberated me

Realizing that I am just like everybody else- just as complex, and as simple

These lessons I learn still

The struggle of my youth was worth it to gain a bit of wisdom