Sweet Sixteen
…And then I see you,
looking at me as I stare in the mirror self-consciously
My insecurities surfacing like acne, just squeeze til they burst, like i did at sixteen
Sixteen years old, on top of the world
Sixteen years old, “oh, you’re still just a girl”
But I’m not, see… How can I word this eloquently?
I am a woman, phenomenally — an anomaly, constructed carefully
From sewn together scraps of a catastrophe,
of the so-called-life I was left when my mom left me
Alone to figure out what being a woman’s all about
No more a child in the womb of a shadow of a doubt
Part courage, part strife, part vim and part verve,
Part “resistance is futile”, part wit, part nerve,
Part knowing all the answers, but not saying too much,
Part knowing when to say, “no”, or, “enough is enough”
Part sticks and stones, part makeup and curls
Part “don’t lose sight of yourself in what you see in other girls”
Part look toward the future, but honor the past
Part live in the moment, part balancing act.
Part act well your part, all honor lies in me
Struck by seven years of luck, on top on sixteen
In 23 years, the most important thing I’ve gleaned:
In a cookie-cutter world, you've gotta be a brownie.
looking at me as I stare in the mirror self-consciously
My insecurities surfacing like acne, just squeeze til they burst, like i did at sixteen
Sixteen years old, on top of the world
Sixteen years old, “oh, you’re still just a girl”
But I’m not, see… How can I word this eloquently?
I am a woman, phenomenally — an anomaly, constructed carefully
From sewn together scraps of a catastrophe,
of the so-called-life I was left when my mom left me
Alone to figure out what being a woman’s all about
No more a child in the womb of a shadow of a doubt
Part courage, part strife, part vim and part verve,
Part “resistance is futile”, part wit, part nerve,
Part knowing all the answers, but not saying too much,
Part knowing when to say, “no”, or, “enough is enough”
Part sticks and stones, part makeup and curls
Part “don’t lose sight of yourself in what you see in other girls”
Part look toward the future, but honor the past
Part live in the moment, part balancing act.
Part act well your part, all honor lies in me
Struck by seven years of luck, on top on sixteen
In 23 years, the most important thing I’ve gleaned:
In a cookie-cutter world, you've gotta be a brownie.