In Between

I am now a new teen

And so I'm in between

Young and old, 

Old and new.

I'm stuck inside my chrysalis, 

Waiting to become a butterfly

But not really wanting to.

I miss being a caterpillar, 

When my days were all just fun.

 I’m just above the limit

Of my innocent MG books. 

And just a bit too scared

For the daunting YA ones.

Too big for my old, simple bike,

 Too short for my 10-speed.

Young enough still to love my dolls,

Old enough to be embarrassed about it. 

I can enter the contests for teens, 

But their writing all stands over mine. 

I'm eye level with their elbows, 

And their shoulders lock together,

Blocking out the sky for me. 

The days of those clean stanzas 

With ever-perfect rhyme, 

They are all gone.

My words are scrambled, 

But falling back together 

In a lovely loose verse. 

I will be a butterfly 

And spread my colorful wings

With an intensified joy, 

With more freedom than ever

To be me.

Sections: Animals, Balance, Confused, Excitement,  Freedom, Free Verse, Growing Up, Happy, Hope, Kids, Poetry, Real Characters, Teens, Worries, Writers