four years
high school flew by i
dealt with a string of lies, rethought social ties,
distanced myself from friends,
cut my hair, saw new places, picked up new phrases,
changed my closet, made a new playlist,
kissed in the rain, swore i was insane,
read old letters from my best friend, cried in the early morning,
ran away, drove up and down pacific coast highway,
screamed in the car for both good and bad,
camped in carlsbad with the family, got asked to prom on my birthday,
afternoon tea with mom, surfed at doheny and waikiki,
art museums in la, rode horses in hawaii, swam with fish,
palm springs for the weekend with new friends, lost myself,
dug through records, sang at sunrise, crowd surfed in a mosh pit,
danced at sunset, cried over a boy, didn’t get the part,
filled another journal, learned more about my heart,
talked with a surfer from new zealand,
went to japan for cherry blossom season,
learned to ski in utah, night swims in balboa,
caught the giants in san fran, got stuck in a riptide in huntington,
climbed a rock and watched fireworks, jumped off piers and waterfalls,
hit rock bottom, and climbed mountains
Poem originally published in kaya do-khanh’s chapbook, When You Know Nothing.